Laporta defeats Font to be re-elected Barcelona president for next five years

[p]The charismatic 63-year-old, who also beat out Font in the 2021 election, will reclaim his position in July after resigning a few weeks ago as part of the electoral process.[/p][p]Around 42 per cent of [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/barcelona/SKbpVP5K/"]Barcelona[/a] club members voted - translating to 48,480 votes.[/p][p]Laporta held 68.47 per cent of the vote after 36,117 votes had been counted, compared to Font's 29.52 per cent. With 12,363 votes remaining to count, Laporta's lead is unassailable.[/p][p][b]"We're sad, we were really hopeful, and it's a pity - we congratulate Laporta,"[/b] Font told reporters, admitting defeat.[/p][embed guid="535bf5b2-20a9-4fe0-90e8-6730a91279e9" url="https://x.com/FCBarcelona/status/2033247120988225990" social-type="twitter" /][p]Laporta previously led the club between 2003 and 2010, in arguably Barcelona's golden era, during which they won the treble with [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/guardiola-pep/hxNijWrJ/"]Pep Guardiola[/a] at the helm in 2009.[/p][p]Several Barcelona first-team players and coach Hansi Flick headed to vote after the team's [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/soccer/barcelona-SKbpVP5K/sevilla-h8oAv4Ts/?mid=AqHJ2tjK"]5-2 victory over Sevilla[/a] earlier on, with Laporta joining them at the ballot boxes.[/p][p]Former Barca midfielder [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/busquets-sergio/CU4pL3ue/"]Sergio Busquets[/a], three-time women's Ballon d'Or winner and star of Barca Femeni [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/bonmati-aitana/ngmvxmg9/"]Aitana Bonmati[/a] and former player and coach [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/xavi/bs5KnIiT/"]Xavi Hernandez[/a] were among other club members casting votes.[/p][p]Voting booths were set up at Camp Nou, as well as in other Catalan cities, Girona, Tarragona and Lleida, and in Andorra.[/p][p][b]Laporta was seen celebrating long before the votes were counted, as well as dancing with Barca players after their emphatic win at Camp Nou.[/b][/p][p]The lawyer, who was elected in 2021 after pledging to keep superstar [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/messi-lionel/vgOOdZbd/"]Lionel Messi[/a] at the club, which he was unable to do, helped Barca stay afloat despite inheriting a financial crisis.[/p][embed guid="71850593-cbd5-40ea-a117-ef15c480bd32" url="https://x.com/FCBarcelona/status/2033248477304475905" social-type="twitter" /][p]Laporta controversially sold off future television rights and parts of the club to generate funds to sign players, including [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/lewandowski-robert/MVC8zHZD/"]Robert Lewandowski[/a] and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/raphinha/xtBsDPam/"]Raphinha[/a], in the summer of 2022.[/p][p]Barca won LaLiga titles in 2023 and 2025, and with coach Hansi Flick at the helm, returned to the Champions League semi-finals last season for the first time since 2019.[/p][p]Laporta was criticised in some quarters for joining forces with [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/real-madrid/W8mj7MDD/"]Real Madrid[/a] chief Florentino Perez to try to make the doomed European Super League project happen. Barcelona finally pulled out of it earlier this year.[/p][p]During Laporta's first spell as president, he oversaw a joyous period for Barca, including the arrival of Brazil star Ronaldinho, the club's greatest ever player, Messi emerging and two Champions League triumphs in 2006 and 2009.[/p]