Former Barcelona president Joan Laporta has announced that he will
run in next month's presidential election as he bids to return to the
helm of the treble winners.
The elections will take place on 18th July and Laporta is one of the favourites to win the race.
“As you all know, I am standing in the 18 July Barça election,”
Laporta, speaking in Catalan, said in a video published on Tuesday.
“I am doing it so I can achieve the aim of making Barça a club for
everyone again,” added the 52-year-old. “I have the experience.“
A lawyer and pro-Catalan independence politician who was president
between 2003 and 2010, Laporta will provide stiff competition to fellow
frontrunner Josep Maria Bartomeu.
Laporta is close to the former Barça player and the coach Johan
Cruyff and a firm supporter of the club’s policy of bringing players
through from the academy into the first team.
Bartomeu stepped up from vice president in January 2014 after Sandro
Rosell resigned amid allegations of tax fraud in the deal to sign Brazil
forward Neymar.
The next election was due to be held in 2016 but Bartomeu decided
midway through this season to bring it forward by a year amid growing
unrest among fans over the management of the club and following the
dismissal of sporting director Andoni Zubizarreta
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