Messi, others elect new Barcelona president
Barcelona have once again elected Juan Laporta as their president.
He replaced the embattled and ousted Josep Maria Bartomeu.
Club members voted 58-year-old Mr. Laporta to defeat rivals Victor Font and Toni Freixa on Sunday, NAN reports.
Mr. Laporta, who was at the helm from 2003 to 2010, amassed 19,293 votes after 75 percent of votes were counted, earning him victory.
His closest rival, Mr. Font had 10,404 votes, while Freixa came third with 3,346 votes.
Celebrating his victory at Camp Nou, he tried to inspire the confidence of the players and fans regarding the club’s Wednesday’s UEFA Champions League last 16-second leg tie against Paris Saint Germain.
“Let’s go to Paris and see if we can turn it around,” Mr. Laporta said despite Barcelona heading into the clash 4-1 behind.
The election for his replacement became necessary after Mr. Bartomeu stepped down in October following a vote of no confidence.
Mr. Laporta’s greatest challenge will now be how to offset the club’s gross debt of about €1.2 billion and probably how to keep their best player, Lionel Messi, whose contract expires in the summer and can leave the club for free.
Amongst the voters were Messi himself, his teammates, and former president Bartomeu.
Resulting from a social media scandal, ‘Barcagate,’ police had last week put Mr. Bartomeu in detention while they carried out an investigation regarding alleged corrupt practices with a company contracted to pilot the affairs of the club’s online presence.
We have recently deactivated our website's comment provider in favour of other channels of distribution and commentary. We encourage you to join the conversation on our stories via our Facebook, Twitter and other social media pages.
More from Peoples Gazette
Politics
Katsina youths pledge to deliver over 2 million votes to Atiku
“Katsina State is Atiku’s political base because it is his second home.”
NationWide
Nigeria positioned to power clean energy future of world: Tinubu
Mr Tinubu expressed his firm commitment to improve the developmental partnership between the European Union and Nigeria.
Africa
Benin, Liberia, Sierra Leone roll out malaria vaccines
With the announcement on World Malaria Day, the number of African countries incorporating the vaccines into their childhood immunisation programmes increased to eight.
NationWide
Group urges FG to decongest custodial centres after Suleja jailbreak
”We also call on the public to pay more attention to issues concerning corrections in Nigeria.”
Politics
PDP unveils 200-member campaign council for Edo 2024 guber election
The advisory council has seven eminent members of the state.
Africa
ECOWAS moves to tackle drug abuse in Sierra Leone, other countries
ECOWAS said the workshop was also to support efforts to tackle drug abuse and provide resources and strategies for member states, particularly Sierra Leone.
Lagos
FG to resume resurfacing of Third Mainland Bridge: Official
She said that the exact dates for the renewed construction would be announced soon.