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Published photo, Getty Images
Juan Laporta oversaw Ronaldinho joining the club, during his first term as president
Juan Laporta has returned for the second time as Barcelona president, having won the club’s election, after an absence of more than ten years.
Laporta, whose main commitment was to keep Lionel Messi at the club, won over 54% of the vote.
Laporta, 58, who oversaw the appointment of Pep Guardiola as head coach during his previous tenure at the club from 2003 to 2010, succeeds Josep Maria Bartomeu, who resigned last October.
Victor Font, who came in second, took part in the elections with 30% of the vote, while Tony Frica came in third by far.
Barcelona announced that 55,611 of its 109,531 members voted in the elections, which were postponed from January, due to restrictions on the Corona virus in the Catalonia region.
Laporta oversaw the membership of several stars such as Brazilian star Ronaldinho and former Cameroon striker Samuel Eto’o at Barcelona during his first term as president, as the club won the European Champions League two-way occasions and four titles in the Spanish League and the Copa del Rey.
Messi also became a world star during this time and was among several current Barcelona players who voted in the election.
In the midst of Sunday night’s celebrations, Laporta shouted, “Now let’s go to Paris and see if we can do another (remountada).”
The word “Remontada” is of Spanish origin and in football means “to return to the victory of the championships”.
Published photo, Getty Images
Juan Laporta celebrates his election victory
He added: “Seeing Leo (Messi) go vote, and he’s the best player in the world, vote with his son, for me it shows what we’ve been saying all the time that Leo loves Barcelona, and that we are all a big family, we hope that will help them survive and that is what we all want.
Barcelona will face Paris Saint-Germain on Wednesday in the knockout stages of the Champions League in the second leg, noting that the first game ended with the Paris team winning by four goals to one.
Long term, Laporta’s mission will be to rebuild a club in crisis, with the debt problem exacerbated by the epidemic, while Messi plans to leave the team for free when his contract expires next summer.
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