January 18 – Barcelona’s eagerly awaited and intensely contested presidential election scheduled for January 24 has been postponed due to the effects of the coronavirus pandemic.
Barcelona said the ballot was delayed because of “mobility restrictions decreed by the Catalan government in the current context of the pandemic.”
“The current epidemiological situation does not make it possible to authorise the movement outside the municipality to members who do not have a polling station in their municipality on Jan. 24, given the high mobility this would entail.”
Barca said it has asked local authorities to allow voting by mail, “a request that the government has undertaken to study.” A new date of March 7 has been pencilled in.
Three candidates are vying to take over from Josep Maria Bartomeu, with Joan Laporta the favourite to become president for the second time having led the club between 2003 and 2010.
Víctor Font and Toni Freixa are the other contenders, the club having been led by a caretaker board since Bartomeu resigned in October rather than face the possibility of being ousted in a no-confidence motion fuelled by below-par performances on the field and the club’s alarming financial situation.
The team are third in La Liga, seven points behind Atletico Madrid, and lost to Atletic Bilbao on Sunday in the Spanish Super Cup final, during which Lionel Messi was sent off for the first time in his Barca career.
To make matters worse, the fact that no figurehead will be in place for the next few weeks means the club in all likelihood will not make any significant signings in the January transfer window.
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