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MADRID, July 19 - Barcelona have been ordered to
hold an immediate presidential election by a Spanish judge who
upheld a complaint from three club members that Joan Laporta had
already served four years. "An electoral process to chose a new board must be called as
soon as possible," Judge Roberto Garcia Ceniceros said in a
statement on Wednesday. He ruled that according to the club's statutes the year ran
from July to June, and that as Laporta was elected to the post
on June 16, 2003 the period before the end of that month
constituted his first year in office. Laporta's four-year term would therefore have expired on
June 30 this year. He won the election pledging to buy England midfielder David
Beckham when he came to power. The move did not materialise but
Laporta did sign Brazilian Ronaldinho. Since then the Catalan
club have won two Primera Liga titles and they won the Champions
League in May. Arch rivals Real Madrid have just held a presidential
election which saw Ramon Calderon elected after a bitterly
contested five-way battle.
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