Barca board resign to start presidential election

Barcelona president Joan Laporta and his board resigned yesterday to set in motion a presidential election at the club, as ordered by a Spanish judge last week.

A caretaker body headed by economist Xavier Sala y Martin will take charge of the European and Spanish champions during the campaign. They are expected to name September 10 as the day for the ballot .

Last week, Judge Roberto Garcia Ceniceros upheld a complaint from three club members who said Laporta had already served his four-year tenure.

He ruled that according to the club's statutes the year ran from July to June, and that as Laporta officially took power on June 22, 2003 the eight days before the end of that month constituted his first year in office.

Laporta's four-year term would therefore have expired on June 30 this year.

A bid through the courts from four club members to have president Laporta barred from standing again for breaking the club statutes was thrown out on Tuesday leaving him and his board free to present themselves for re-election.

The rival thought most likely to have given Laporta a run for his money, former vice-president Sandro Rossell, has declared his intention not to stand.