Barcelona president Josep Maria Bartomeu has called presidential elections for the end of the season as a result of dissatisfaction with his running of the La Liga club, he told a news conference yesterday.
The Catalan club were due to hold elections in 2016 but Bartomeu has decided to bring them forward a year following the dismissal of sports director Andoni Zubizarreta last Monday.
“I have taken the decision so as to ease the tension which I believe to be disproportionate and doesn’t reflect the reality of the club,” Bartomeu told a news conference at the Nou Camp.
“It is a club which is functioning well, we are going to construct a new stadium and on the sporting front we are still in all the competitions. I ask that there is ‘fair play’ among all the candidates (for the election) and we all concentrate on what is best for the club.
“It is best that mandates are completed but there has been too much tension over the last few weeks. We will continue our programme now and there will be no changes there. I have talked with the other board members but it is me that takes the decisions.
“We will seek re-election. We started in 2010 and we want to keep going.”
Zubizarreta’s sacking came in the aftermath of a FIFA ban on signings for two windows for a breach of rules on the transfer of foreign Under-18 players.
Bartomeu said that it was necessary to make a change but that the dismissal was not directly related to the transfer ban.
The president added that Zubizarreta’s replacement would be someone who knows the club well.
“Zubizarreta has been in charge of the remodelling of the club but there has been a loss of confidence and so we decided that we needed to take action,” said Bartomeu.
“Focusing on who will replace him then it will be someone from the club or someone who has been at the club. We want somebody that has Barca DNA.
“I want to clarify that Zubi-zarreta was not part of transfers that led to the FIFA sanction, he did not authorise those signings.
“Zubizarreta and (coach) Luis Enrique have worked well together and we aim to name his replacement in the coming days.”
Meanwhile, Luis Enrique has described reports of a bust-up with Lionel Messi as “inaccurate and ill-intentioned”.
Talk has been rife of disagreements and heated exchanges between the pair while rumours of a move to Chelsea have grown with Catalan radio saying the London club has contacted the players’ father and agent Jorge.
RAC1 radio claimed Premier League leaders Chelsea would be prepared to pay Messi’s $295.80 million buy-out clause.
“I have the same relationship with all the players since the start of the season. Obviously we know each other better now but there is no change in the relationship,” Luis Enrique told reporters.
“I am not going to comment about all the different media reports about what has supposed to have taken place. There are so many varied reports which are inaccurate and ill-intentioned,” added the coach.
Messi and Luis Enrique were reported to have had heated arguments last Friday and again after Sunday’s defeat at Real Sociedad, where Messi was left out of the starting line-up.