Bartomeu thinks about it (II)

Two weeks ago, Josep Maria Bartomeu was already thinking about a possible resignation. The 20,687 signatures presented by Més que una Moció, the platform that unites three candidates for the presidency (Jordi Farré, Víctor Font and Lluís Fernández Alá) and eight opinion groups, were a very hard blow for the president. His first thought, however, was to hold on. Rumors that a good number of signatures could be bought or invalid invited him to be prudent and to wait for the Censorship Vote Table to be constituted.

However, the spectacular rate of validated signatures, which has already passed 10,000, suggests that 16,521 will soon be reached, which would force a date to be set for the partners to vote if they dismissed Bartomeu. For this, it would be necessary for two thirds to vote yes, always in the event that at least 10 percent of the social mass voted. However, Bartomeu could avoid being in that situation of being the first president overthrown by a vote of no confidence in the history of Barça. In office since January 23, 2014, Bartomeu would prefer, in the event of resigning, to avoid the humiliation of being kicked out of the club by a large majority of the members. Some managers recommend that you step aside and walk away with him. Others encourage you to continue. That is Bartomeu.

But there are voices that think otherwise. Toni Freixa, official candidate for the presidency of the Barça club, requested this Friday to withdraw the motion of censure. That conservative point of the Barça partner, now that the club seems pacified in quotation marks, could invite to prevent more fires and that the partner allowed Bartomeu to exhaust his mandate once he has already called elections.

If Bartomeu leaves and the elections are brought forward, the official candidates (not the pre-candidates) will have to commit to endorse 120 million euros, 15% of Barça's budget in the 2020-21 season, which will drop to 800 million. Bartomeu is not afraid of a liability action because he has accumulated benefits of 211 in the last ten years, according to La Vanguardia. The pace of ballot validation will be key to knowing when Bartomeu makes a decision. For now, he thinks about it.