Joan Laporta has promised to keep Lionel Messi at the club soon after winning the Barcelona Football Club elections.
Laporta won the vote with more that 54% of the cast vote to succeed Josep Maria Bartomeu who resigned in October 2020.
The 58-year-old, who oversaw the appointment of Pep Guardiola as head coach in his previous spell at the club between 2003-2010 beat Victor Font who got 30% of the vote, with Toni Freixa a distant third.
FC Barcelona said 55,611 of its 109,531 eligible members voted in the election, which was postponed from January because of coronavirus restrictions in Catalonia.
In his first stint as President, Laporta signed the likes of Ronaldinho, Samuel Eto’o and Thiery Henry. Barcelona won the Champions League twice, four La Liga titles and the Copa del Rey.
Messi who also participated in the voting process emerged as a world star during Laporta’s first tenure.
Barcelona face Paris Saint-Germain on Wednesday in the Champions League last 16, with a 4-1 deficit from the first leg.
After ‘securing’ Messi’s future at the club, Laporta will be tasked with rebuilding the club that has been struggling financially with crippling debts caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and Messi wanting to leave for free when his contract expires in the summer.