Former Barcelona president Joan Laporta reportedly plans to run for the upcoming club presidential elections in March next year.
Laporta, who originally ran as president between 2003 and 2010, is arguably one of the greatest ever to run FC Barcelona and could make a welcome return in the club’s time of need.
Now the SER Catalunya program ‘La Llotja del Què T’hi Jugues’ has announced that he will present himself in the upcoming presidential elections on March 2021.
The Catalan is already planning a project for his campaign and will hope to do better than the 2015 elections, which saw him finish with the second-highest number of votes on 15.615 behind current president Josep Maria Bartomeu.
❗️| Joan Laporta will run for the elections again. He has already decided and is building his team now. [@albert_roge] pic.twitter.com/X5HvHM8eW7
— La Senyera (@LaSenyera) September 10, 2020
This leaves five candidates in the running to become the next Barcelona president: Laporta, Jordi Farre, Lluis Fernandez Ala, Victor Font, and Agusti Benedito.
News of Laporta’s candidacy comes amid a movement, called ‘Mes que una Mocio’ (‘More than a Motion’), which is aimed at triggering a sufficient number of no-confidence votes against Bartomeu.
The movement announced 7,500 signatures have already been collected ahead of the 16,520 votes target that must be met by September 17.
Of course, Laporta is best remembered for the way he implemented Barcelona’s golden era. He took office in 2003 and set about implementing the club’s old values by resorting to home-grown players from the famed ‘La Masia’ academy.
The 58-year-old was also responsible for the inexperienced Pep Guardiola’s appointment as manager in 2008 despite public scrutiny.
By the time he left in 2010, the Blaugrana were once again the dominant force in European football.
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