Barcelona will choose its 41st president after weeks of tension and accusations

Five weeks after the call for elections, Barcelona's member will choose their 41st president. It will happen after a dense and tension-filled period with accusations flying around. The main candidates are Josep Maria Bartomeu, Joan Laporta, Agustí Benedito, and Toni Freixa, although seven pre-candidates wanted to join the race. Jordi Majó and Jordi Farré, from the group Som Gent Normal, couldn't move forward. Seguiment FCB also tried but fell 16 signatures short of the required 2,534 endorsements.

Bartomeu represents continuity from the 2010 project. He appeared as the sporting vice president and right-hand man of Sandro Rosell. When Rosell resigned in January 2014, Bartomeu took over and strengthened his position with bold decisions (sacking Zubizarreta), interesting actions (restructuring the executive area), providing calm in tough moments (mediating in the Messi-Luis Enrique conflict), and proudly showcasing the trio after achieving the club's second treble in just seven years (2008-2015).

Laporta is in direct opposition to Bartomeu. The lawyer, who started his spontaneous participation with four basic pillars (Cruyff, Catalonia, La Masía, and Unicef), disappointed in the only debate attended by the four candidates (Bartomeu withdrew from all the others). Although he still excels in direct communication, he fired his shots early, attempting to gather a series of former club athletes in his work team (Abidal, Esteller, Albertini, Grimau, etc...). However, it seems that it won't be enough to achieve his goal. He accused Bartomeu of being implicated in the 'Neymar Case', labeled Freixa as "Bartomeu's submarine" during a debate at the University of Vic, and asked Benedito to withdraw from the race just yesterday, as their competition would take away votes from Bartomeu.

Qatar. That was Benedito's weapon to convince members that Bartomeu was leading Barcelona down the wrong path. He attacked the club's main sponsor, claiming that "this country finances the Islamic State" and tried to give meaning to five years of fieldwork that should yield results. He had his ups and downs with Toni Freixa, former club board member with Rosell and Bartomeu, who saw his influence diminish as a director (went from spokesperson to member). However, it was proven that this didn't hinder him from preparing a well-structured project and program that pleased in all aspects, and could leave the door open for the future, depending on today's final result, the day Barcelona will know its 41st president.