Laporta leads Barcelona signature race as election set for 15 March amid coalition talk | OneFootball

Joan Laporta has taken an early lead in the signature race ahead of Barcelona’s presidential vote on 15 March, leaving him well placed for a fourth term. The incumbent remains the favourite to stay on after his five-year mandate.

Candidates needed 2,337 member signatures by Monday to make the ballot. Laporta filed 8,169 at club offices, Marca reports, with Victor Font submitting 5,144, 3,031 fewer. Former manager and player Xavi Hernandez has publicly backed Font.

Marc Ciria handed in 2,844 signatures and Xavier Vilajoana 1,593, with the latter currently short of the threshold to stand.

Laporta’s latest haul is 2,086 down on 2021, when he gathered 10,257, while Font’s tally is up by 713. Talk persists of a possible joint campaign among rivals depending on the signature collection results, though Ciria and Vilajoana have said they reject a coalition. Font has said he is open, and together the three account for 9,905 signatures, 734 more than Laporta.

“We see no loss of confidence whatsoever. We greatly value the signatures, even more so than in 2021 because there was much greater mobilization then. The club was in a more complicated situation. There’s a feeling among Barcelona fans that we’ve already got it made, but 8,171 members understood that, even though the polls show us as favorites, they had to make an effort to make us a viable candidacy,” Laporta told Sport.

Source: Football Espana