Bartomeu beats Laporta in re-election as Barcelona president
Josep Maria Bartomeu has been re-elected as Barcelona president for a second term, beating former president Joan Laporta in Saturday’s election.
Bartomeu received 54.63% of the votes cast by club members invariably capitalising on the team’s success last season to defeat three challengers despite being a suspect in a fraud case and operating during a FIFA ban on signing new players.
The 52-year-old, who will now lead the club for the next six years, became club president in January 2014 when his predecessor, Sandro Rosell, resigned after being named in a court investigation into alleged misappropriation of funds to sign the Brazil striker Neymar. Bartomeu was later included in the on-going investigation.
His closest rival Laporta, backed by club greats Pep Guardiola and Johan Cruyff, got 33% of the vote.
The other two candidates, Agusti Benedito and Toni Freixa, received 7.17% and 3.70% of the votes, respectively. Other ballot papers were blank or came out void.
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