Guwahati News Desk: Barcelona President Josep Bartomeu quits along with the rest of the board members on Tuesday amid the fallout of his dispute with star Lionel Messi.
The Spanish club wants to join a potential new super league of elite European teams, Bartomeu, 57 revealed.
The retirement was announced after one of the club’s worst seasons in more than a decade, effectively avoiding a motion of censure vote that was scheduled for the coming weeks.
Bartomeu tried to convince and delay the vote, citing health concerns for the club’s more than 110,000 members amid the coronavirus pandemic, but local officials scrapped the offer.
“We have to act responsibly. For that reason we cannot hold the vote of censure in the current circumstances. It was necessary to do so in conditions that guaranteed everybody’s health. We cannot nor want to put ourselves in a position of having to choose between protecting people’s health and exercising the right to vote. For that reason we have taken the decision to not call the vote and resign forthwith,” Bartomeu said.
The petition with over 20,000 Barcelona members signature was made not long after Messi wanted to leave the club.
Explaining to Messi and his family Bartomeu on Monday said that he could not let the world’s best player depart before the end of his contract, which expires at the end of this season.