The best news of Laporta's victory

Joan Laporta has won the Barça elections with an undeniable margin against the opposition candidate, Víctor Font. The Barça fans have spoken decisively. The victory is crystal clear. It rewards and legitimizes at the ballot box the work of a leader capable of merging his own ideology with that of the majority of Barça supporters. Good luck and success to the champion.

Given the clarity of the result, the nervousness of Laporta and his supporters during the decisive stretch of the campaign is surprising. By calling the elections mid-season, with titles still up for grabs and the first team riding high, the continuity candidate had everything in his favor, including players dedicated to the cause, to retain the support of a historically football-centric and conservative fanbase. Only Font, who has dedicated ten years of time and money to changing Barça but still can't connect with the average Barça fan, has had enough moral authority (and signatures) to force the most charismatic Catalan leader since Jordi Pujol to organize an election. Laporta was unbeatable in a three-way race (Marc Ciria fell 90 signatures short of the cutoff) and also the favorite in the plebiscite-style head-to-head that Font wanted. overtakingGiven the context and precedents, it was highly unlikely. There was no need, then, to be so sloppy in the debate or to push one's supporters to such extremes in self-defense. Or was there?

It seems that so much verbal violence and media exposure could be a response to a real fear on the part of Laporta and his family and friends of losing the privileges acquired five years ago thanks to the famous Bernabéu banner and the unfulfilled promise to renew Leo Messi's contract "with a roastHowever, it's far more accurate to link this strategy to the Laporta faction's historical need to designate enemies and mistreat them on all fronts, whether in the cesspool of social media or in the stands of the supporters' group. It's about being against everything and everyone, prioritizing this over any constructive approach, even when everything is in their favor to remain in power. No surrenderad nauseamThe strategy is hardly edifying, but it helped them win by a landslide.

If Laporta has raised his voice to the point of rudeness, it hasn't been out of suffering, but out of pure conviction. This way of doing things has found legitimacy at the ballot box and has diminished the desire for change (not insignificant after the signature count) to the point of sinking Font's alternative. What is clear is that Barça will not return to the absolutism of Núñez in the 80s and 90s, nor will it replicate Florentino Pérez's North Korean-style regime in Madrid. Firstly, because the current statutes prevent Laporta from serving more than two consecutive terms, but also because the elected president's personalistic style will continue to generate dissent and require journalistic scrutiny. It will be exciting to continue shedding light on the opaque management of the most idolized leader in Barça's history. We'll scratch and have fun. There will be reasons to. And this is also great news. In fact, along with the end of the electoral process, I'd say it's the best news of all.