World NewsLaporta to Remain As Barca President |
BARECELONA president Joan Laporta has survived a vote of confidence and will remain in office until 2010.
Fans, disgruntled following a second straight season without silverware, headed to the polls after club member Oriol Giralt collected the 5,882 member signatures required to request a referendum on the Barca presidency.Two thirds of supporters were required to vote 'yes' in order to force Laporta, who has been president since 2003 and was re-elected in 2006, out of the Nou Camp and a minimum of 10% of the club's members were required to vote.
That number - 15,184 - was achieved around lunchtime, with a total of 37,294 members turning out to cast their ballot.
The majority - 23,870 (60.6%) - voted in favour but short of the 66% that the statute requires for the vote of censure to be successful.
Almost 15,000 members (37.75%) voted for Laporta, with the remainder either invalid or blank votes.
Copyright (c) 2008 Press Association
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