Elections possibly in March or April

Asked when the upcoming presidential elections will be held, Barcelona president Joan Laporta has said in an interview with Catalan radio station RAC 1 that the date, which should be between 15 March and 15 June (read more here), is not yet decided upon:

"The club statutes say it's the president who has to call the elections. I will see what the best moment is for the club and at that time I will call them. At first sight, the best moment would be at the end of the season, because we're still competing for all trophies.

But I also take into account that it maybe would be good to know who will be the next president of Barça before we enter the last phase of the competition. We'll have to look at it a little more but of course we'll do what's best for the club."

Spanish news agency EFE claims that it is believed in the entourage of the club that Laporta could bring the elections forward as much as possible after the team won the Clubs’ World Cyp last weekend and could already organize them in the second half of March. Catalan sports paper El Mundo Deportivo claims that bringing the elections forward could mean they will be held in April.

The paper claims that Laporta will keep in mind two other factors when deciding on the date of the elections. If Catalan president José Montilla would bring forward the date of the Catalan parliamentary elections, who are in principle planned for the autumn of 2010, Laporta could be forced to call the presidential elections earlier to allow him to fully focus on a possible political career afterwards.

The second factor could be the poll results, both those regarding Laporta's political future as those regarding the continuity candidate's chances in the elections for president of FC Barcelona. Depending on these results, Laporta could decide to call the elections earlier or later.

All non-board candidates would meanwhile prefer to have elections as soon as possible. Catalan sports paper El 9 Esportiu claims that Barcelona assets vice-presidents Jaume Ferrer thinks the elections should be organized in March or April, while first vice-president Alfons Godall prefers to hold elections at the end of the season.

Read more:
When will the elections be held?
Pre-candidates need to collect signatures
Who is eligible as president?