Ekun Samuel, 19 July 2015.
Last season's interim President Josep Maria Bartomeu has emerged winner as Barcelona President after the election on Saturday.
Josep Maria Bartomeu who is a big businessman with companies involved in airport and seaport facilities, first joined Barcelona's board under Joan Laporta from 2003-05 as executive head of its basketball and handball teams. He retuned to the club as a supervisor of the football team under former President Sandro Rosell, and oversees the Neymar signing that led to the accusation of misappropriation of funds and also the transfer of underage players at their La Masia academy. This led to the one-year ban imposed on them by Fifa, for violating rules regulating the transfers of underage players. The ban which restricts them from signing of players for the year 2015.
Barcelona despite the ban, still went on winning the treble last season, Champions League, La Liga and Copa del Rey. It ended up with the club returning with a profit of €608m, all under interim President Josep Maria Bartomeu. And this made him a huge favourite and gave him the leverage as becoming the President.
Josep Maria Bartomeu who took over from Sandro Rosell who resigned following the scandals that befell his administration in January 2014, will retain his position as President for six years. And after casting his vote on Saturday, he said: "these six years are very important and the club must continue to be number one."
Josep Maria Bartomeu, 52-year-old, won 54.63 percent of the vote, a comfortable advantage over rivals Joan Laporta (33.03 percent), Agusti Benedito (7.16) and Toni Freixa (3.70).
