Barcelona’s bid to remove the club’s president gains momentum as the fallout from Lionel Messi continues

The much maligned president of Barcelona, ​​Josep Maria Bartomeu, faces increasing pressure after a campaign group announced that they were accumulating signatures in an attempt to force a vote of no confidence on him.

With Lionel Messi’s frustrated attempt to leave Barcelona still raw, some activists are desperate to force Bartomeu to leave the club.

‘Mes que una mocio’ (More than a motion), the group supported by candidates for next year’s presidential elections, said it had reached the 7,500 signatures of club members from the 16,520 needed by September 17 to trigger a vote of no confidence in Bartomeu.

If the campaign reaches its goal and the vote takes place, two-thirds of the club’s 150,000 members would have to vote against Bartomeu to trigger an imminent election.

Bartomeu, who cannot run again because he has already served two terms, has called elections for March 2021, three months ahead of schedule, following the team’s humiliating 8-2 defeat by Bayern Munich in the Champions League in August.

The motion of no confidence was presented by presidential candidate Jordi Farre on August 26, a day after the captain and all-time top scorer, Messi, sent the club a statement saying he wanted to leave.

Messi told Barcelona he wanted to leave last month, but has since been reported saying that he will stay because he did not want to face the “club I love” in court over their £ 624 million buyout clause.

Sign up for the shiny new Mirror Football newsletter!

From the latest transfer news to agenda-setting stories, get it all right in your email inbox.

Place your email at the top of this article or follow the instructions at this link.

Barcelona posted a photo of Messi on Twitter Monday night showing the Argentine in action at the club’s Ciutat Esportiva training ground. He had previously refused to conduct a routine coronavirus test as the rest of the team began their preseason just over a week ago.

And La Liga president Javier Tebas has expressed his relief that Messi remains at Barcelona this season after the forward finally returned to training.

“We were concerned, yes, but not seriously concerned,” Tebas said, speaking at La Liga’s promotional launch for the 2020-21 campaign. “Obviously, we want Messi to be with us.

“I have always said that he is probably the best player in the history of football. He has been in our competition for 20 years.

“As president of La Liga I would very much like him to end his days in our competition.

“For 20 years in La Liga history we have had Lionel Messi and obviously we were worried if he was going to leave.

“But anyway, we are very happy that he is staying with us and not going to another league.”