8 Board Resignations

[Pat Murphy]

Anti-Laporta Petition Reaches Climax

Joan Laporta's reign as president of Barcelona is looking in doubt as a petition of censorship is already reaching the numbers required in order for it to be put in place.

The group of petitioners who are led by Oriol Giralt have demanded action as they have been left disappointed by Laporta and they believe he has not being doing his job properly.

According to Article 49 of the FCB club statutes, if 5% of socios who are qualified to be electors (being an adult and a member for over a year) sign a petition then a censure motion can officially be put in place.

Spanish sports paper AS claim that this number is close to being reached. The number required to see the censorship being passed is 5,882.

Once the number has been reached there will be a final for or against the vote of censorship between those who proposed the petition.

If a majority of the promoters of the petition vote for the motion of censorship then the club will have to look for a new president.

Salvatore Landolina - Goal.com

Goal.com - Barcelona - Anti-Laporta Petition Reaches Climax

[Pat Murphy]

Opponents Ready To Try And Topple Laporta

Joan Laporta is facing a testing few weeks after a motion to overthrow him garnered almost double the number of signatures required and now a referendum will decide if he must stand down.

Blaugrana supporter Oriol Giralt is grabbing his moment in the limelight after obtaining 9,473 signatures from Barça club members in order to bring about a motion of censure against the current Camp Nou president.

While only 5,882 signatures were needed, Giralt believes that the large amount he has proves that something needs changing at Barcelona and he is pushing ahead with his motion.

"Something needs to be changed very high up in our club," he said. "There is something very wrong with this president. It is not just sporting reasons. The last two years have been terrible. The president of this club needs to be a gentleman."

Laporta's second term in office ends in 2010 and a third term is not allowed, so Giralt is looking to cut short his reign by only two years, but he is revelling in the prospect of the referendum.

"When we go through the process there can be a vote, probably at the end of June or beginning of July," he continued.

Should that referendum be successful then elections will have to be held, but the only man said to be ready for that is Laporta's former vice-president, Sandro Rosell.

Nevertheless, Giralt will not be deterred and, somewhat confusingly, talks about the last two years being bad before stating that Laporsa has gone back on things he said six years ago.

"The club is in a very, very bad situation," he stated. "They promised a lot, but have not done it. The club is broken, the players are in despair. Ronaldinho is an example.

"Laporta did exactly the opposite of what he promised. Incredible. If you read the newspapers of five or six years ago and see the things he has done, it is like white and black.

"We need a change. We hope it can happen at the end of June or beginning of July. People are sad and very angry."

"The most important thing we have done is to let the president know that if you are to be the president of this club you must be a gentleman. You must be polite with the partners, the press, the players."

The first and last person to bring a motion of censure against an incumbent Barcelona president was Laporta himself when he found enough signatures to try and bring down Josep Lluis Nuñez ten years ago.

At the helm of his Elefant Blau movement, Laporta was triumphant before the referendum only for his motion to fizzle out when almost 62 per cent of the club's member voted against his plan.

In order for any motion to be successful two thirds of the club's member that vote, from 117,000 eligible people, must be in favour otherwise things continue as they are.

Lucas Brown, Goal.com

Goal.com - Barcelona - Opponents Ready To Try And Topple Laporta

Tense stuff. Personally I want Laporta to see out his remaining 2 years. Rosell might be bad for the club. Hopefully I get to vote in this.

[lionel]

hmmm... I know nothing about rosell. if he can make good relations with the players and staff, then I wouldn't mind this change.

[Pat Murphy]

The big day is July 6th. Club members who have been a member for over a year (not me) can vote.

My understanding is that over 2 thirds of the votes need to be against Laporta for him to be removed. If he is removed then an election for the new President will take place.

2 candidates will probably be Rosell, Laporta's former no.2 and now arch enemy and Soriano, now a Vice president and the ecomony man.

Laporta is hoping that the recent signings have been enough to keep him in power but the man who got the censure motion said that the hard part was getting the motion, the easier part is getting the 2 thirds against Laporta.

[Pat Murphy]

Cruyff Supports Laporta Ahead Of Vote

Johan Cruyff believes that fans should vote to keep Joan Laporta in place at Barcelona ahead of the referendum at the club next Sunday.

The Dutch legend lent his support to the current board after a vote of no confidence was successfully brought against them by two club members who are disgruntled with the way the club is run.

Laporta could be forced to resign if more than 65 per cent of club members vote yes in the vote and that would mean presidential elections being called for September.

"To be a club member gives you some advantages, but also obligations. One of them is going to vote next Sunday. I will be voting to keep the same people in place," Cruyff was quoted by Sport as saying.

"That is not because they are my friends. I will vote not because they will stay for four more years, but because they should finish their term in office.

"One must accept the motion because it is within the rules, but when a president is chosen, it is for four years."

Despite stating that his view was impartial, Cruyff then spelt out all the good things that the current Barça regime have done for the club.

"On a sporting note, two league and the Champions League is very good. The prestige has returned, the 'mès que un club' (more than a club) idea has gone global, the agreement with UNICEF, the financial turnaround have all gone very well," he continued.

"There maybe some things that should not have been done , but those are not up for discussion."

Finally, Cruyff talked about the new players at the club so far this summer, because if Laporta has to step down then there will be freeze onall transfer activity.

"I can tell you that the signings in previous seasons have been very good, but I am not going to give my opinion on the current ones because they have yet to work with the coaches," he said.

"I think that the team will start to win trophies again under Guardiola because he is a winner and is accustomed to success."

Lucas Brown, Goal.com

[Pat Murphy]

Big day today and inside my head it doesn't look good for Laporta at the moment.

15,184 socios have voted as of midday which is 13% of them. About 9,000 voted on the no confidence bid so you'd expect those lot to do so again.

Giralt, Laporta, Cruyff have all voted. There needs to be 66% against Laporta for him to be removed as President.

[Pat Murphy]

20,242 members - 17.08% of the census have voted with 8-9 hours left of voting.

[Pat Murphy]

All the votes are in and are now being counted.

So far 5,348 votes have been counted and 61.78% is against Laporta. For him to be removed 66.6% needs to go against him so this is going to be a close one.

32,000 votes left to be counted.

[Pat Murphy]

Official - Laporta Scrapes Through Censure Vote

Following on from earlier reports that Barcelona president Joan Laporta seemed set to survive the movement of censure against him, it has now been confirmed that he will not be out of a job this evening...

With all votes counted, the "vote of no confidence" has ended in majority for those who sought to see Laporta removed from office, yet they did not win by a large enough margin to secure their goals.

The club's statutes require a 66% "yes" vote of no confidence to dislodge a board and president, with tonight's tally falling just short.

All 118,528 eligible club socios (members) were summoned to Camp Nou today to complete their ballot during the 9am-9pm window of opportunity, although a full turnout was obviously impossible.

As of 1pm, though, it was clear that the result would stand as the 10% turnout threshold had already been passed with fully eight hours remaining.

An early exit poll later indicated that Laporta had lost the popular vote but not fallen victim to the 66% allowance, and as the results were tallied this became confirmed.

39,389 votes were counted, surpassing the turnout estimate of 37,2394 that was produced at 23:50. The overall turnout, then, comprised 32.39% of those eligible to take part.

The final results as confirmed by FCBarcelona.com at 00:03 local time on Monday 7th July were as follows


YES to the motion of censure: 23,870 (60.60%)
NO: 14,781 (37.75%)
BLANK: 540 (1.37%)
INVALID: 108 (0.27)


Laporta, then, has saved his job, with Oriol Giralt's censure movement having technically failed.

Nonetheless the president's position will be significantly weakened after such a slim margin of victory, while attaining over 50% of the vote - even taking into account the turnout - will be seen as a minor success for Laporta's opponents.

The current regime are now free to continue with their summer plans as they look to rebuild the squad and put two barren seasons behind them.

Ewan Macdonald, Goal.com

Goal.com - Barcelona - Official - Laporta Scrapes Through Censure Vote


Close one but Laporta survives.

There a rumours that he may resign anyway. We'll have to wait to hear from Laporta on this but technically he still has 2 years before his 2 terms run out.

[Pat Murphy]

Originally Posted by Pat Murphy

Close one but Laporta survives.

There a rumours that he may resign anyway. We'll have to wait to hear from Laporta on this but technically he still has 2 years before his 2 terms run out.

Laporta To Offer Resignation This Week

Joan Laporta will offer his resignation to the board of Barcelona on Thursday in order to avoid fresh elections and Albert Vicens will take over at the helm, according to Diario Sport.

The ground breaking move will be made after more than 60 per cent of club members voted against the current regime in a vote of no confidence at the weekend.

In order for the board to step down, 65 per cent of voters were required to go against them, but the fact that more than half did so has piled the pressure on.

Sport believe that various directors have stated their belief that after the vote, Laporta should step down and save the rest of his board from having to go.

If he does in fact resign on Thursday, then it is believed that the first vice president, Vicens, will step up to become president, and economic vice president, Ferran Soriano, will be his number two.

That would ensure that there would be no need for elections to be held this year and the current set-up could carry out their mandate until a vote becomes obligatory in 2010.

Laporta is desperate not to allow his former ally and vice president, Sandro Rosell, the chance to take over now and that has also influenced his decision to offer his resignation.

Barcelona would be able to continue with their plans and there would be no interference in the club's summer transfer activity, which would happen if elections were set.

After Sunday's vote, Laporta attempted to put a brave face on the fact he had held on by five per cent, but now members of his own board have turned against him.

"It has been a sweet defeat. But there was also a silent majority," he told Sport before news of his plan to resign broke.

"It was a day of complete democracy in which many members showed their will for there to be change, but also a silent majroity that did not turn up, nearly 80,000 of them.

"Those are the people that I believe are waiting to see what the results of the teams are this season and want us to make certain changes. They have given us an chance to continue onwards and to finish out mandate that the fans gave us in 2006.

"The fact that the silent majority was there showed that the motion was unable to motivate enough people."

Lucas Brown, Goal.com

Goal.com - Barcelona - Laporta To Offer Resignation This Week

Laporta dimitirá el jueves | SPORT | Barça


This is weird as he came out and said that he'd continue for 2 more years, I'm not sure what to say.

[Pat Murphy]

Barcelona Crisis Meeting Calms Nerves

Joan Laporta was at the head of an emergency meeting of Barcelona's directors on Tuesday evening as they gathered to discuss the continuing crisis

The beleaguered Blaugrana chief was said to be ready to step down on Thursday after seeing more than half of voters go against him in the vote of no confidence at the weekend.

While the current regime held on, Sport said that he would go, but Laporta has now stated he will remain in charge and told his fellow directors that at a hastily arranged meeting.

"I do not have any intention of resigning. We are legitimised to carry on and we have to be coherent and responsible to ensure calm returns to the club and that we can all move forward," Laporta told reporters after returning from a meeting in Nyon.

After reading the alleged exclusives by Sport, who appear to been wide of the mark despite being so close to the club, the Barça board held a meeting in one of the director's homes in the city.

Only vice president Alfons Godall was missing leaving 17 out of the 18 directors to discuss what the next steps the Catalan giants should take, but details were made public.

Laporta was said to be ready to step down to prevent a handful of board members from going themselves and destabilising the club further, but he may have averted that.

Lucas Brown, Goal.com

Goal.com - Barcelona - Barcelona Crisis Meeting Calms Nerves

[Pat Murphy]

8 Board Resignations

Barcelona president Joan Laporta said he will leave it up to the general assembly of club delegates to decide on his future in the post, after the resignation of eight of his 17 board directors on Thursday.


Laporta has been under pressure from his own board and local media to step down after losing a confidence vote among club members on Sunday, when those critical of his management won 60.6 percent of the almost 40,000 votes cast.


The motion just failed to achieve the two thirds necessary to force a new election and afterwards Laporta said he would continue and complete his mandate which runs until 2010.

'I consider it necessary to continue at such a crucial moment of the season to maintain the stability needed to construct the teams for next year,' Laporta told a news conference.

'But I recognise that although we overcame the motion against us on Sunday, we did not get a favourable vote.

'I have decided, with the board, to put my position at the disposal of the general assembly who are the supreme governing body of the club.'

The approximately 3,000 club delegates, who represent the members, are expected to meet in September, Spanish media reported.

The resignation of eight directors at the first official board meeting since Sunday came as another blow to Laporta's administration.

It was particularly damaging as they included first vice-president Albert Vicens, vice-president for sport Marc Ingla and vice-president for finance Ferran Soriano.

Vicens told an earlier news conference: 'The reason for our decision lies in the differences in opinion on how to react to the result of the confidence vote, when the majority expressed their unhappiness with the board.'

Laporta presided over the club when it won back-to-back league titles in 2005 and 2006, along with the Champions League in 2006.

But he has been heavily criticised by fans and local media for his running of the club over the past two years when they have failed to win any major trophies.

Soccernet.com

3 Vice Presidents leave, half of the board members. Laporta still refuses to budge. Rosell quit because Laporta was obsessed with power. I think they both are as Rosell doesn't care about the stability of the club if it will make him President.

We're in deep trouble. We have to finish off the signings and in September the delegates will decide Laporta's future. If he is forced to resign then there will be new elections for a new president.