Barcelona, July 17 (IANS): Saturday sees the election for the presidency of FC Barcelona with Joan Laporta a slight favourite to win the vote ahead of former president Josep Maria Bartomeu.
There are four candidates in the election, with former club spokesman Tony Freixa and Agustin Benedito also running for office.
But everything points to it being a two-horse race between Laporta, who was Barcelona president between 2003 and 2010, and Bartomeu, who replaced Sandro Rosell at the head of the Catalan football club in January 2014 after Rosell was forced to resign over irregularities in the signing of Neymar, reports Xinhua.
The latest poll gives Laporta a slim advantage with 36 percent of the vote to Bartomeu's 33 percent and both candidates have strong points in their favour, as well as weaknesses.
Laporta can point to a long period of success over his seven year spell, as well as the key signings of Ronaldinho, which turned around the club's fortunes.
He was also the man who showed faith in Pep Guardiola, promoting him to the Barcelona first team after just a season coaching the B team and thus helping to kick-start the most successful side in the side's history.
Against him is the fact he left the club's economy in a poor state in 2010 and Laporta is also a man who enjoys the limelight himself and it could be argued that he used his seven years as president to try and further his political ambitions.
In contrast, Bartomeu comes across as modest and unassuming and he was in charge of the club last season as they lifted the second treble in their history under the guidance of Luis Enrique, whose contract he extended at the end of the campaign.
He does have the major problem of being linked with Rosell and is standing for president, despite being indicted over the Neymar signing and at the end of the day that could be what costs him the election.
Although the future of Enrique, who has not revealed who he will vote for, seems secure, there can be no doubt that the election is vital to seeing how Barcelona will run over the next four years. And the signings of players such as Paul Pogba, as well as the possible departure of others such as Pedro Rodriguez could well depend on the outcome of what will be a tense day in Barcelona.