BEVERLY HILLS, March 08, (THEWILL) – Reports monitored by THEWILL coming from Spain have it that La Liga side FC Barcelona finally have a President after the Sunday, March 7 elections.
Joan Laporta, who appeared a clear favourite from the day he signalled interest to re-contest, has won a second shot at the position he once held between 2003 and 2010.
The past months have been marked by an exciting campaign for these elections and witnessed the mapping out of some intriguing projects and plans, as the three leading candidates attempted to sell their candidacy to the Barcelona faithful’s who were going to be involved in the process to pick a new president to chart a fresh course for the beleaguered football giant.
Of the three, the 58-year-old Laporta, 48-year-old Victor Font and Toni Freixa, a 52-year-old lawyer, Laporta was the one who expressly claimed his past relationship with Barca talisman Lionel Messi stood him in good stead to renegotiate a deal with the striker to ensure he remains at Barca and be happy to remain rather than move to one of Europe’s other big side with the deep pockets to foot his bill.
Laporta successfully dealt with challengers for the post by waging an unrelenting war of attacks within the online community of his opponents’ failings within their proposed projects for the club’s survival especially in times of COVID-19. Laporta had to fight off Victor Font, whose project has been several years in the making, and Antoni Freixa, a man suspected of rigging pre-election twitter polls, to the end.
The astute Spanish businessman, Laporta first came to prominence in 2003 when Barcelona were under a period of massive transition and required a steady hand. The then 40-year-old was elected as the president for his incredible campaign and ideas and proved to be the best president in the history of the club. He led Barça to two Champions Leagues, whilst working to put structures in place to deal with the several administrative and financial problems he met.
He will be expected to do that again even though a lot has taken place since he left in 2010. Simply recreating his first tenure will not suffice. He will find himself enmeshed into the plethora of issues plaguing the Catalan side. His acumen in sport administration and business management will come in handy to get the club back on track and back to silverware winnings.
The returnee President has long favoured Norwegian teenage sensation for Bundesliga side Borussia Dortmunds Erling Haaland. He has also dropped hints about attempting to sign Haaland on and could kick off that process sooner than later with other clubs circling above the gifted striker.
Laporta has also casually name-dropped the likes of Mino Raiola, Pini Zahavi, Jorge Mendes, and several others, but only time will tell who he attracts and actually brings under the Barca banner to move the team to trophies and get them financially afloat and profitable once again.
About the Author
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
