FC Barcelona Board & President Josep Maria Bartomeu Resign Facing No Confidence Vote

The FC Barcelona board of directors and president Josep Maria Bartomeu have resigned. 

This decision came after club members decided to go on with a vote of confidence concerning the president’s future at the club. Bartomeu decided to resign before the vote went forward. 

Bartomeu became the president of FC Barcelona in 2014, replacing Sandro Rosell. In the past few years, he was heavily criticized on a number of occasions because of his management of the club and as a result his popularity significantly went down. 

Some FC Barcelona players even had problems with Bartomeu’s management including Lionel Messi. He fell out with current FC Barcelona star Messi, who wanted to leave the club this past summer. 

During an interview with Goal, Messi claimed that “the president always said at the end of the season I could decide if I stayed or not.” However, the club refused to let Messi leave, and the player will remain at the club during the 2020-21 season. 

Current FC Barcelona defender Gerard Pique previously talked about the club’s handling of the Messi situation and claimed that Messi should have been allowed to leave if he wanted to. 

Bartomeu later defended his decision not to let a player like Messi leave the club for one of the club’s rivals.  

Another issue Bartomeu’s management was called out for was ‘Barcagate,’ a social media campaign reportedly created by them, which attacks FC Barcelona players. The ‘Barcagate’ issue is currently under investigation. 

In the upcoming months, a new president will be elected to take over the Catalan club. There are candidates that include Victor Font, Jordi Roche and Joan Laporta, who are expected to run for the position. 

While announcing his resignation, Bartomeu also said that FC Barcelona has joined the European Super League. According to Bartomeu, joining this league will help ensure the club’s financial sustainability in the future.