Opposition's show of force against Laporta

BarcelonaPending official confirmation, Joan Laporta will face two rivals in the FC Barcelona presidential elections on March 15. The deadline for submitting the 2,337 valid signatures required to qualify for the election closed this Monday, and in addition to the incumbent, who obtained 8,171 signatures, Víctor Font (5,144) and Marc Ciria (2,844) also reached the minimum threshold. Xavier Vilajoana (1,593) is therefore out of the running, as was the case in the 2021 elections. The other two pre-candidates, Daniel Juan (84) and William Maddock (9), played only a minor role.

Everyone expected Laporta to garner more support than anyone else, but it's striking that the number is significantly lower than the 10,257 signatures submitted in the previous elections. Font, on the other hand, surpasses the 4,710 he submitted in 2021. Amid this fluctuating numbers, it's noteworthy that the combined support for the opposition candidates (9,674) far exceeds Laporta's total. This small victory has been celebrated by the opposition, who insist in their speeches that "the race is on." "The signatures are further proof of the clamor among Barcelona fans for change at the club," Font stated in his address. Meanwhile, Laporta, who arrived at Camp Nou aboard his campaign bus, downplayed having fewer signatures than in 2021, arguing that "at that time, there was a real need for change."

The day at the stadium proceeded normally, except for a minor controversy because Ciria didn't arrive at 4 p.m., as the club had instructed, but rather after 8 p.m. This fueled rumors that he might not make the cut. This uncertainty won't be resolved for another three days: the club begins the validation process on Tuesday and has until Thursday, although Barça believes they will be able to announce the names of the candidates for the March 15 elections by Wednesday night.

The unified candidacy fails

Beyond knowing the support each candidate received, the hours prior to the delivery of the endorsements had been key for the meetings between the opposition pre-candidates in Laporta and who were working to create a "common front of Barcelona supporters"In reality, the agreement had been sought for months, but it was impossible to reach before the electoral process began. Finally, it wasn't finalized before the ballots were submitted, on which the presidential candidates must include the list of between 14 and 21 directors who will accompany them.

With Vilajoana out of the running, because it had already been revealed that he wouldn't obtain the minimum required signatures, Font had known for some days that he would easily surpass the threshold. His 5,100 signatures were a high enough number to give him a strong position in this negotiation: besides deciding who would be the figurehead of this hypothetical unified list – it was assumed it would be Font – he also had to decide how many people from each pre-candidacy would ultimately make up the board. A balance on which they haven't reached an agreement.

According to sources close to the negotiations at the ARA, this was the major point of contention between Font and Ciria, which ended without an agreement that, for several hours on Sunday, many considered a foregone conclusion. In these talks, Ciria had assured the other pre-candidates that he had passed the threshold and therefore considered himself entitled to impose his conditions on the unified list. But Font's team harbored some distrust of the economist and, in fact, even questioned whether he had truly obtained the necessary support. A final meeting was scheduled for Sunday evening, which, once again, ended without any agreement. Finally, Ciria, with 2,844 signatures—500 more than required—proved that he had not been lying.

There was still a small opening for Font to make room for Xavier Vilajoana and Joan Camprubí Montal on the Nosotros candidacy. His team felt this move only made sense if there was a unified list that prioritized the project over individual names. In the end, Vilajoana was excluded from this potential agreement, and Camprubí Montal was not part of it eitherDespite the fact that the driving force behind Somos un Clam had fought until the very last second to secure a place on the ballot, a unified candidacy cannot yet be entirely ruled out, although with less than two weeks until the elections it seems increasingly difficult to achieve. For the moment, we will have to wait for the validations, which will last between two and three days.