BREAKING: JOAN LAPORTA RE-ELECTED BARCELONA PRESIDENT IN LANDSLIDE VICTORY
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By ‘Sefiu Ajape
Joan Laporta has been re-elected as president of Barcelona for another five-year term after defeating Victor Font in Sunday’s election.
Laporta secured a convincing victory, polling 32,934 of the 48,480 votes cast by club members, known as socios. Font received 14,385 votes, while 984 ballots were left blank and 177 were declared void.
Barcelona said the total votes represented a turnout of 42.34 per cent, with 114,504 members eligible to participate in the election.
Current and former presidents, coaches and players were among those who voted at Spotify Camp Nou. Among them were coach Hansi Flick and members of the men’s first-team squad.
The election coincided with Barcelona’s 5-2 LaLiga victory over Sevilla on Sunday. Flick and several players, including Raphinha, Pedri and Dani Olmo, cast their votes after the match.
“I won’t tell you who [I will vote for] because it’s a secret,” Flick said in a news conference shortly before voting. “It’s a special day. I saw it on the television in my office in the stadium, the election going on, it’s special. I think also everyone is happy, it was a great day.”
Earlier in the day, goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen, currently on loan at Girona, was unable to vote after discovering that his name was not on the electoral register.
Although Barcelona players automatically become club members upon joining, they are responsible for updating their membership details, which the German international had not done before the election.
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Injured Barcelona Femení players Aitana Bonmatí and Laia Aleixandri also voted, though most of their teammates were unable to do so as they were playing away at Deportivo de La Coruña on Sunday.
Former Barcelona coach Xavi Hernández also participated in the vote — days after calling Laporta a “liar” over his role in Lionel Messi’s failed return to the club in 2023 — alongside former Inter Miami midfielder Sergio Busquets.
Spotify Camp Nou was one of five polling centres used for the election, with additional voting stations located in Tarragona, Girona, Lleida and Andorra.
The outcome mirrors the 2021 election, when Laporta also comfortably defeated Font to succeed Josep Maria Bartomeu as Barcelona president.
That victory marked the beginning of Laporta’s second spell leading the club.
He previously served as president from 2003 to 2010, overseeing the appointment of Pep Guardiola and Barcelona’s first Treble in 2009 before returning to the role 11 years later.
Since resuming office, Barcelona have won two LaLiga titles, while the women’s team have secured three Champions League trophies.
However, the recent success of the men’s team under Flick formed a key pillar of Laporta’s campaign.
Last season, Flick guided Barcelona to a domestic treble — LaLiga, the Copa del Rey and the Spanish Supercopa — as well as the club’s first Champions League semifinal appearance since 2019. The team also remains competitive in both LaLiga and the Champions League this season.
Laporta has also overseen the redevelopment of Spotify Camp Nou. The first two tiers of the renovated stadium were fully operational for the first time during Sunday’s match against Sevilla, raising capacity to more than 60,000 as work continues on the third tier.
Font had sought to persuade members to support his candidacy by arguing that the club’s financial situation had not improved under Laporta — a claim Laporta disputes — while also criticising repeated delays in the return to Spotify Camp Nou and the manner in which Messi’s exit from the club was handled.
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