Reports: Bartomeu's job in danger as Barcelona members consider vote of no confidence
According to reports in the Spanish media, Barcelona president Josep Maria Bartomeu is hanging to his post at the Catalan club by the finest of threads. Barcelona has endured over a year of misery on and off the pitch and Bartomeu's house of cards may well be about to crash and burn.
The controversial Barcelona executive has become a highly unpopular figure among the Barcelona faithful and is unlikely to continue as the president of the club after the next election cycle.
This is not the first time the Barcelona president has faced a litmus test of this magnitude. Several groups of members have tried to dethrone Bartomeu in the past and this particular vote might prove to be the most difficult test of his error-riddled tenure.
Bartomeu's famously disastrous signings have effectively bankrupted an otherwise financially powerful club over the past few years. Many of Barcelona's failings on the pitch can be traced to the board's poor planning and lack of vision and Bartomeu is set to face the consequences in the coming weeks.
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Several Barcelona members want to impeach Josep Maria Bartomeu
Barcelona is one of the most inefficiently managed clubs in the world at the moment. The Blaugrana squad is heavily dependent on players in the final stages of their careers and the board has done very little to ensure that an effective sporting project is implemented at the club.
A Barcelona member group called 'Cor Blaugrana' has decided to launch a vote of no confidence against Barcelona president Josep Maria Bartomeu and may also call for early elections this summer. The spokesperson of the group, Josep Maria Cremades, explained the Barcelona members' reasoning in an interview with a Catalan radio station.
"We know we are working against a number of factors. We know we canāt get signatures at games because fans canāt attend, that weāre in the middle of a pandemic and that thereās an election due next year anyway."
Barcelona is a registered association that is owned by the members the club. The socios play an important role in determining the club's activities every year and an election is held to select a Barcelona president once every six years.
Cremades has claimed that while there are several challenges in the way of proceeding with the vote of no confidence, Barcelona's misery must come to an end sooner rather than later.
"We really want to move forward with this vote of no confidence. Thatās the level of indignation weāre feeling right now. The management of the club has been unacceptable."
Lionel Messi has also voiced his frustration with Barcelona's lack of ambition off the pitch and is yet to renew his contract with the club. The Argentine genius' departure at this stage would wreak havoc at Barcelona and Bartomeu will be unable to survive the severe repercussions that follow.
Barcelona relinquished the La Liga title to Real Madrid after a miserable league campaign and is not particularly a favourite to win the Champions League. La Masia's gems have given the fans something to cheer about this season but Barcelona will need to buck up and modernise its administrative methods to remain relevant in Europe.
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