Barcelona president Bartomeu quits in fallout of Messi feud

Barcelona president Josep Bartomeu resigned Tuesday amid the fallout of his feud with star Lionel Messi, and on his manner out revealed the Spanish membership desires to affix a possible new tremendous league of elite European groups.

After one of many membership’s worst seasons in additional than a decade, Bartomeu introduced that his complete board of administrators additionally resigned, successfully avoiding a movement of censure vote that was scheduled for the approaching weeks.

Bartomeu needed to delay the vote, citing well being issues for the membership’s greater than 110,000 members amid the coronavirus pandemic, however native officers earlier within the day approved the vote to happen.

“We have to act responsibly,” Bartomeu stated. “For that reason we cannot hold the vote of censure in the current circumstances. It was necessary to do so in conditions that guaranteed everybody’s health. We cannot nor want to put ourselves in a position of having to choose between protecting people’s health and exercising the right to vote. For that reason we have taken the decision to not call the vote and resign forthwith.”

More than 20,000 Barcelona members had signed a petition for Bartomeu and his board to face a movement of censure. The petition was made not lengthy after Messi stated he needed to go away the membership, and following the workforce’s embarrassing 8-2 loss to Bayern Munich within the Champions League, a outcome that capped the membership’s first season with no title since 2007-08.

Messi was essential of membership administrators final season and stated he didn’t just like the course the membership was headed. He personally complained of Bartomeu for not retaining his promise to let him depart.

Bartomeu stated on Monday that he defined to Messi and his household that he couldn’t let the world’s greatest participant depart earlier than the tip of his contract, which expires on the finish of this season. Bartomeu had additionally stated that resigning had not crossed his thoughts.

He stated “the desire of this board of directors has never been to hold on to power at the club,” which is able to now be managed by an interim board till new elections are held.

“We know that we will leave the club in the hands of an interim board that, in the current circumstances of the pandemic, has no guarantee of being able to hold elections in the short term,” he stated. “We know that and I hope that the interim board will be able to carry out our decisions to help the club through the pandemic crisis.”

Bartomeu added that the membership had given its preliminary approval to a brand new competitors.

“I can announce that we approved the requirements to be part of a European Super League,” Bartomeu stated. “The decision to play the competition now must be ratified by the next (club) assembly.”

It was not instantly clear from Bartomeu’s feedback who can be organizing a Super League or if such a contest would solely change the UEFA-run Champions League.

Bartomeu, who didn’t reply questions Tuesday, is leaving practically seven years after he took over the membership following the resignation of Sandro Rosell in 2014.

After the workforce’s loss to Bayern, Bartomeu introduced “profound changes” to the membership and known as for brand spanking new presidential elections for March. He stated he knew “unpopular and uncomfortable” selections must be made.

“It would be the easy thing to do to quit after the elimination in the Champions League, but we had to guarantee the club’s future in the middle of a world crisis without precedents,” he stated. “We had no reason to resign when new elections had already been scheduled.”