Barcelona president Josep Maria Bartomeu set for vote of no confidence

Barcelona club president Josep Maria Bartomeu is set to face a vote of no confidence, after at least 16,250 verified signatures were gathered in the motion against him, meaning that an election could happen soon, to elect a new board and club president.

It has been clear for a few days that the motion against the board would achieve the 16,250 votes needed to trigger it. 20,687 votes were gathered in total, which meant that more than 4,000 would have needed to be false for the process to stall.

As of yesterday, 15,557 signatures were verified, with just 693 of the remaining 3,715 that were still to be counted needing to be verified for the process to be triggered, according to Diario Sport.

❗️ El vot de censura acaba d'assolir la xifra de signatures vàlides necessàries (16.521) per tirar endavant el procés en contra del president Josep Maria Bartomeu i la seva Junta Directiva. #frac1 pic.twitter.com/sttAR6Chyc

— El Barça juga a RAC1 (@FCBRAC1) October 7, 2020

A rigorous process is now taking place over the course of ten days – and to be concluded this week – to verify the signatures and allow a motion to either be held or withdrawn.

Jordi Farre, one of the signatories of the motion said that it was now time for Bartomeu and the board of directors to resign and call for fresh elections at Barcelona.

🗣 — Jordi Farre: "I believe that there will be no referendum. I think that Bartomeu and his board will resign. I advise them to leave and call elections as soon as possible. " pic.twitter.com/1TkDl690H6

— Barça Universal (@BarcaUniversal) October 7, 2020

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Bartomeu's time at Barcelona helm nears its end

Lionel Messi has been vocal against the Barcelona board throughout the summer

It has been a summer of turmoil at Barcelona, and president Bartomeu has been at the centre of it.

The biggest saga was, of course, the one caused by the potential departure of Lionel Messi, which was blocked by the board.

Messi eventually said that the only reason he didn't pursue an exit was that he didn't want to go to court against "the club of his life".

Messi blasted Bartomeu and the rest of the Barcelona board, saying there was no plan or vision at the club, and the Argentine's anger was only compounded by the way that Luis Suarez was forced out of the club.

Messi said that Suarez deserved the farewell of a Barcelona legend, which he didn't get, while also saying that nothing about Barcelona was a surprise to him anymore.

Barcelona also recently announced large financial losses, with the COVID-19 pandemic being a massive jolt to their plans for the year.

There now has to be a referendum called within in the next 20 days, where the future of Bartomeu and the current Barcelona board will be decided.

As of now, the next club election at Barcelona is scheduled for March.