Josep Maria Bartomeu resigns as Barcelona president

The soon to be former Barcelona president was facing a vote of no confidence.

Just a day after holding a press conference and stating there was no reasons for him to resign, Josep Maria Bartomeu, along with the rest of his board, is set to step down from the Barcelona presidency.

According to Sport, the decision also comes after Catalan government informed the Barcelona board that the vote of no confidence was going to happen no matter what.

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The news has sent a shockwave among Barcelona and its supporters. Bartomeu was on his last year as the president and he had been adamant that he was going to see it through. The news that he was stepping down caught some by surprise because he seemed to be teflon.

Since the loss to Roma in the Champions League in Ernesto Valverde’s first season as manager, calls for Bartomeu step down grew increasingly louder. Even more so following the debacle at Liverpool.

Things finally seemed to reach a boiling point after the humiliating defeat at the hands of Bayern Munich. Compounded even further after Lionel Messi sent his now infamous burofax informing the club that he wanted to leave the club.

While the Argentine never mentioned Bartomeu by name, it was clear who he was referring to when he said the the club had no real sporting project and were simply plugging holes as they went along.

Bartomeu’s final hope in sticking around was delaying the vote of no confidence. When that didn’t work out, the writing was on the wall.

He persisted despite plenty of shortcomings. The results on the field blinded people to the failing of the club at an institutional level. The incompetence when it came to the transfer market and building a solid team came back to haunt them this season when they had to nearly give away players to get the wage bill under control.

As for what happens now, elections must be called within the next 40-90 days. There will be a new president come January of next year.

The new president, and his board, will have their work cut out for them. Barcelona in a tough financial shape. Not only that but they still have the Lionel Messi situation to resolve. He is free to talk to clubs come the winter transfer window.

Any way one slices it, Bartomeu will go down as one of the worst presidents in club history. The team may have one a treble under his tenure but have become a shell of their former selves and face a lot of difficult situations that whoever take over will need to resolve.