Barcelona: FC Barcelona president Josep Maria Bartomeu, along with his board of directors have resigned from their posts on Wednesday (October 28). Bartomeu was widely criticised after his recent fallout with talismanic Lionel Messi, prompting the Argentine to leave the club.
“It’s a thought-out, serene, informed decision,” Bartomeu said in the press conference. The Catalan giants have seen a decline in their performances in the last few years with humiliating defeats against the likes of AS Roma, Liverpool and Bayern Munich in the UEFA Champions League. Besides, the finances also worsened during these years resulting the club under several debts.
The recent feud with Messi was probably the last nail to the coffin. The skipper sent a burofax announcing his wish to leave the club as a free agent, which was subsequently blocked by Bartomeu. In an interview following the failure of the transfer, Messi said, ‘for years the team did not have a project’. To avoid any legal dispute with the ‘club of his life’ Messi decided to stay.
Following this, he faced a vote of no confidence from the socios. He tried to postpone the censure vote due to the ongoing pandemic, but it did not help. “The easiest thing after the Champions (League defeat) was to resign, but one had to take decisions amid an unprecedented global crisis,” he said to the press.
Barcelona appointed their former player Ronald Koeman as a manager in the close season, Barca have won only two of their opening five league games and lost 3-1 at home to rivals Real Madrid on Saturday (October 24). Barcelona will play Juventus in an away fixature for their UEFA Champions League Group Stage match.
