Why Barcelona's presidential election is coming early in 2026

Martin Macdonald

• 24 Jan 2026 07:01 CST
• 3 min read

Nieuws

Barcelona supremo Joan Laporta has been criticised for calling the club presidential election early in 2026.

Laporta is the current president of the Catalan giants and has held the post since 2021, with elections coming every five years unless called early. He was previously president between 2003 and 2010, having won elections in 2003 and 2006.

Usually, elections at Spanish clubs come at the end of the season when the dust has settled from the previous campaign.

However, the Barcelona elections are coming in March, as confirmed by the club.

A statement read:

"The Board of Directors has agreed to call elections for the club presidency on Sunday 15 March 2026.

"In the coming days, and in accordance with the deadlines established in the FC Barcelona Statutes, the official call will be published, including the schedule and all details of the electoral process."

Laporta is up against fellow candidates Marc Ciria, Xavier Vilajoana, Victor Font and Joan Camprubi.

His rivals believe that he has called the election early because Barcelona are performing well on the pitch at the moment, top of La Liga and in a good position to automatically qualify from the Champions League league phase, while they recently defeated Real Madrid to win the Spanish Supercup.

Ciria told SPORT: "We had already planned that Laporta was going to take advantage of any opportunistic moment to call the elections. We understand that the statutes provided for it, but the normal thing was to do it with the season over and with the different teams fighting for the titles not seen in this noise."

Font added: "It is obvious that these elections are called when it suits Laporta. He doesn’t care about holding elections in the middle of a Champions League tie. But we were already expecting it, we are not surprised. We are prepared. These are very important elections for the future of Barca. The time begins to return Barca to the members.

"Of course, if March 15 finally coincides with a match against Sevilla, we demand that on that day the match be exclusively for members and that tickets are at the minimum cost. Participation must be encouraged and those who do not have season tickets cannot be discriminated against."

Ciria's Barcelona vows

Ciria, a financier, has made three main vows in his presidential bid:

- Ensure Lionel Messi's return

- Give club members a bigger voice

- Sort out the club's extensive financial issues

He explained:

"We are a candidacy to win the next Barça elections, of course we are, but above all we want to preserve the legacy. When things aren't working, you have to change them, you have to start over. We mustn't get caught up in personal interests or entrenched positions.

"Our movement is the only one that has presented real solutions. We must modernize the club with real professionals. We are not some kind of sham. I feel expelled by prohibitive prices, by the games of buying and downloading tickets, by the absence of a dedicated fan zone and the largest sports association movement in the world, the supporters' clubs, because now they don't suit us.

"The debt has grown in recent years, we haven't increased revenue despite inflation, and perhaps because of all this, these are the last elections we'll experience as Barça members."

According to the New York Times, Barcelona are currently in €1.45 billion of debt.

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