Fan pressure forces Bartomeu to resign as Barcelona president

Increasing fan pressure has forced the resignation of Barcelona president Josep Maria Bartomeu on Tuesday evening.

The Blaugrana supremo resigned from his post alongside the entire board of the club, amid ongoing criticism and a looming vote of no confidence

Bartomeu, 57, who became president in 2014, had fallen out with club forward Lionel Messi after the Argentina striker handed in a transfer request in August but was denied exit.

The president had been due to officially end his tenure next year, with elections called for March, but the club’s members called for a vote of no confidence in an effort to get him out prematurely.

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Bartomeu’s resignation comes three days after Barca’s were defeated 3-1 at home by Real Madrid in the season’s first El Clasico.

But resentment against Bartomeu had been growing in the past year due to worsening finances and the team’s decline on the pitch, which saw them lift no major silverware last season.

A total of 20,687 votes had been gathered for the motion against Bartomeu, passing the threshold of 16,250 signatures required for the vote to go ahead.

But the vote, set for next week, will no longer be necessary as the president already stepped down alongside the entire board members.

Under Bartomeu’s leadership the Spanish giants have won four La Liga titles and the Champions League in 2015.

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