Barcelona’s Presidential Elections Postponed
Barcelona have postponed their presidential election, originally scheduled for January 24, due to the coronavirus situation in the Catalonia region.
A new president was supposed to be elected after Josep Maria Bartomeu resigned in October.
Former president Joan Laporta, Victor Font and Toni Freixa were supposed to contest for the elections in nine days but a new date will have to be found.
The news means interim president Carlos Tusquets will continue in his role for now.
Barca revealed in a statement on the club’s official website: “This Friday, January 15, the Catalan Government and FC Barcelona have held a virtual working meeting to address the holding of the elections for President and Board of Directors of the sports entity in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic.
“In the course of the meeting, the Government has conveyed to the club that the current epidemiological situation does not make it possible to authorise the movement outside the municipality to members who do not have a polling station in their municipality on January 24, given the high mobility this would entail.
“For its part, the club has stated the impossibility of holding elections on the scheduled date due to mobility restrictions decreed by the Catalan Government in the current context of pandemic, which is why the date of the elections must be delayed.
“In this sense, the club has asked the Catalan Government to evaluate the possibility of modifying the current sports legislation in order to enable voting by post on the new date of the elections, a request that the Government has undertaken to study."
