Laporta sets date for Barça elections: they will be on March 15th

BarcelonaSunday, March 15, 2026. This is the date chosen by President Joan Laporta for the Barça elections. The predictions have come true, and the board, meeting in ordinary session this Thursday, has opted for to call the members to the polls as soon as possibleThe club's current sporting success, with the men's first team still in contention in all competitions, has influenced the decision. The president is the clear favorite in an election where he will face opposition from at least Víctor Font, Xavier Vilajoana, and Marc Círia, three club members who have submitted their pre-candidacies. According to the club's statutes, and given that his term is ending, Laporta could call elections between March 15th and June 15th. The president hinted that he would either do so soon or wait until the end of the season. But, as everyone suspected, it will be sooner. In fact, on the earliest possible date, coinciding with the weekend of the Barça-Sevilla match. "It's the most suitable date for the club's normal operations, both institutionally and on the field," the president stated. The elections will coincide with a potential Champions League round of 16 tie.

Laporta starts as the favorite because the ball goes in and because Barça members are traditionally conservative. Since elections have been held among the membership by universal suffrage, no president running for re-election has lost the vote. The changes (Gaspart in 2000, Laporta in 2003, Rosell in 2010, and Laporta in 2021) have occurred because the previous occupant of the presidential box stepped aside. However, the opposition unanimously maintains that "it's a game" and the candidates will try to delve into the president's financial management, which has many flaws due to a debt that has not been reduced, a series of levers used to facilitate signings, and the now infamous Financial Fair Play, which five years later remains negative.

Barça has been in pre-campaign mode for weeks now.

For weeks, even months, the opposition has been strategizing to reach out to the members. Font, Vilajoana, and Círia have been active in the media, on social networks, and throughout the region to get their proposals across to the Barcelona fanbase. They all claim to have detected "winds of change" and therefore maintain that the elections are wide open. But Laporta's board knows they hold all the cards, both because of the current situation and the charisma of a president who has recently intensified his media presence and has also used his position as Barça's leader to organize meetings—either directly or through board members—with members to learn their concerns firsthand.

The vote will be in March, but the first major battle will be fought much earlier, with the collection of signatures. Although Laporta faces the elections as president, he is also obligated to present the petition. There will be around 2,300 (in 2021 there were 2,257), 5% of the club's delegates. However, the statutes stipulate that there are only seven business days for collecting them. The club is inclined to consider Saturdays as business days, but some candidates consider them working days but not business days. Thus, the first electoral controversy is already underway. In any case, the official ballots cannot be obtained until the 1st. This complicates the procedure and hinders pre-candidates who have not yet developed a sufficiently developed logistical plan. Supporters' clubs also play an important role in this process, becoming collection points. However, tradition indicates that members of these clubs tend to support the candidate seeking re-election.

The first elections without endorsements

Now that the election date is known, it will be time to learn more details about the candidates. Of course, their proposed governance plans for the club will be revealed. And also, the candidates' running mates, who, according to the statutes, must have been members for a minimum of five years – for the president, it's 10. Unlike what has happened until now, these will be the first elections in which the board of directors will not have to provide a guarantee equivalent to 15% of Barça's budget. This facilitates access for less wealthy individuals, who until now have generally been excluded from management teams because candidates surrounded themselves with members who could bear the burden of the guarantee. Thus, scenes like those of March 2021, in which Laporta's board celebrated, will not be repeated. in extremisIn a notary's office on Barcelona's Diagonal, singing the Barça anthem in the early hours of the morning, he had secured the necessary funds to take office. However, it won't be free for the management teams, as they will first have to finance the campaign, which is usually paid for jointly by them. In 2021, Laporta planned to spend 1.5 million to convince the members, although in the end it turned out to be more money.

Laporta will present himself with a board that will have new facesSome board members are considering stepping down. The president, who has already contacted other partners to fill their positions, knows he will most likely not be able to count on Ferran Olivé, currently the treasurer, nor on Àngel Riudalbas, who is in charge of the Barça Innovation Hub. However, he is very likely to bring back Eduard Romeu, who would regain the financial responsibilities he vacated two years ago when he resigned for economic reasons.