Barcelona (AP) – Soccer superstar Lionel Messi and several colleagues took part in the presidential election at the crisis-ridden Spanish top club FC Barcelona. The Argentine cast his vote in the Camp Nou Stadium accompanied by his eldest son Thiago (8).
In addition to Messi, Sergio Busquets, Jordi Alba, Sergi Roberto, Jordi Alba and Riqui Puig had also voted by early afternoon. The more than 110,000 members of the Catalan association are entitled to vote. According to media reports, the German national goalkeeper Mac-André ter Stegen initially did not take part. With him in goal, Barça had won 2-0 at CA Osasuna the day before.
The vote was originally scheduled to take place on January 24, but was postponed due to the pandemic. A total of 123 polling stations – 111 in Barcelona, five in Girona, three Tarragona, two in Lleida and one each in Tortosa and Andorra – opened at nine in the morning. The vote will end at 9 p. M. The result should be known around midnight. There were three candidates to choose from: lawyer and politician Joan Laporta (58), who had already been club boss between 2003 and 2010 and was considered the most promising candidate, lawyer Toni Freixa (52) and entrepreneur Victor Font (48).
The early vote became necessary after Josep Bartomeu resigned in October after more than six and a half years. Bartomeu had previously prevented Messi, who was willing to emigrate, from leaving the club barely a year before the contract expired in the summer. This caused additional unrest in the club, which was ailing financially, athletically and institutionally.
In the so-called “Barçagate” affair of illegal activities on the Internet, Bartomeu was only taken into police custody on Tuesday. He was released on Wednesday, subject to conditions. According to the judiciary, he is suspected of having initiated a smear campaign against players and other people who were critical of the club’s management at the time. Bartomeu denies the allegations, but has not made a statement for a long time.
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