ANALYSIS: With socios set to vote in the election at the end of this week, Goal takes a closer look at the four men battling for power at the Catalan club...
By Ben Hayward | Spanish Football WriterThe race for control of FC Barcelona is on. Four of the seven initial candidates gained sufficient signatures to advance to the polls on July 18 and will battle it out for the privileged position in charge of the Catalan club for the following six years.
In order to advance to the final hurdle, candidates needed to secure 2,534 signatures from supporting socios and three men - Joan Batiste, Jordi Farre and Jordi Majo - fell short of that target when the numbers were counted last week.
Batiste, head of the Seguiment FCB movement, looked to have gained sufficient support but only 2,518 of the signatures collected were validated and he missed out by only 16. Farre (2,033 signatures) and Majo (1,021) also dropped out of the race.
That leaves four candidates: recent club chief Josep Maria Bartomeu, former president Joan Laporta, previous challenger Agusti Benedito and ex-Barca spokesman Toni Freixa. Here, Goal takes a closer look at the four men and their plans for the Catalan club should they be successful on July 18.
| JOSEP MARIA BARTOMEU |
Josep Maria Bartomeu took over from previous president Sandro Rosell in January 2014 after the latter resigned due to the controversial deal to bring Neymar to Camp Nou.
Although not actually elected by Barca socios, Bartomeu has overseen a difficult period at the Catalan club, bringing calm in turbulent times and maintaining his faith in coach Luis Enrique despite calls for his head in January.
Ultimately, Barca went on to claim the treble, winning La Liga, the Copa del Rey and the Champions League, and Bartomeu is now the big favourite to win the election on July 18.
The 52-year-old stood down as president to concentrate on his campaign in June, but has signed Arda Turan from Atletico Madrid (as Luis Enrique had requested) and promised Barca will spend €60 million on new players every summer if he is elected.
He also claims the current financial model can bring in around €1000m annually by 2021, while his team have revealed the club are open to cutting ties with the current Qatar sponsorship deal in 2016.
| JOAN LAPORTA |
Joan Laporta led Barca through a glorious era in his first mandate, changing the course of the Catalan club with Frank Rijkaard and later Pep Guardiola in charge at Camp Nou.
Laporta has vowed to sign Paul Pogba for Barca if he wins the poll on July 18, while he also claims Lionel Messi will be happiest if he is voted in for a second mandate.
The 53-year-old lawyer says he will restore La Masia to its former glories, while he believes the club should respect the philosophy of Johan Cruyff and wants to bring back the Dutchman (a consultant during his first term in charge) in some capacity if he is elected this time around.
The former president plans to bring in Eric Abidal as sporting director and has said that, along with Pogba, the pair have a number of new players in mind for the prospective project.
Laporta is keen to strengthen the club's agreement with Unicef (that he himself introduced in his first mandate) and wants to restore the charity to a prominent place on the club's shirt. He is also eager to boost Barca's Catalan identity, which he says has suffered under the the board led by Rosell and later Bartomeu.
| AGUSTI BENEDITO |
Agusti Benedito is a Catalan businessman who has long been linked to FC Barcelona. A co-founder of the Elefant Blau censure motion movement against former president Josep Lluis Nunez in 1997, Benedito worked under Joan Laporta at Barca from 2003 but handed in his resignation in 2009 due to differences with the former club chief and his board.
Benedito ran for the presidency himself in 2010, finishing second in a four-man race which Sandro Rosell won by a landslide with over 60 per cent of the total vote.
The 51-year-old believes the club's sponsorship deal with Qatar is damaging Barca's image, while he has also criticised the signing of Arda Turan on the eve of the election on July 18.
Benedito, who is third in the latest polls with less than 4 per cent of the total share, claims Paris Saint-Germain midfielder Marco Verratti is his top target should he win the election and revealed he has made contact with the player's agent with a view to a possible move.
Like Laporta, Benedito has said he wants to strengthen La Masia and the club's struggling youth sides, while he claims Pep Guardiola and Jojan Cruyff would be welcome back at Camp Nou in a prospective presidency. He is also open to restoring Unicef to the front of the club's shirt instead of a paid sponsor.
| TONI FREIXA |
Toni Freixa worked with Sandro Rosell and Josep Maria Bartomeu as a spokesman for Barcelona between 2010 and 2014, but gained fame for unfortunate remarks such as claims that Tito Vilanova was winning in comparison with previous coach Pep Guardiola.
When Bartomeu took over following Rosell's resignation, Freixa was moved to a new role on the Barca board and has been described by Joan Laporta as "Bartomeu's submarine" - an alternative designed simply to steal votes from the other candidates and strengthen the campaign of his former employer.
Freixa claims he plans to turn Barca into the world's leading brand, while he wants to strengthen La Masia, increasing the power of the socios and continuing to bring in the best players on the planet.
The former club spokesman is currently last in the polls and has virtually no chance of success on July 18, but is likely to take up a role at Camp Nou if Bartomeu is re-elected this summer.
The 47-year-old has announced former Barca midfielder Jose Mari Bakero would be his sporting director, while the agent of Marco Verratti recently revealed he has spoken to Freixa on the phone about a possible move for the midfielder if he were to become president.
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