FC Barcelona’s internal electoral dispute has reached a new procedural stage, with the Catalan Sports Tribunal formally admitting Marc Ciria’s appeal against the resolution of the Appeals Committee of the Catalan Football Federation, which had backed the electoral board’s approach to validating member signatures ahead of the club’s 15 March presidential election.
According to IUSPORT, citing EFE’s access to the tribunal’s resolution, the court has granted all parties eight days to submit their arguments and any allegations they consider relevant before the tribunal proceeds to rule on the substance of the challenge.
Ciria had submitted 2,845 member signatures to qualify as an official presidential candidate, of which the electoral board recognised only 2,247 as valid – leaving him 90 short of the required minimum of 2,337. His legal team argued that 379 of the invalidated signatures were rejected on purely formal grounds, including the absence of a photocopy of a national identity document, expired identity documents, or outdated membership numbers, all of which belonged to socios identifiable within the club’s census and correctable had additional time been given.
The FCF Appeals Committee had rejected that argument four days before the election – ruling that the criteria used by the electoral board for invalidating those signatures were consistent with the club’s statutes and that, therefore, it could not be restarted as Ciria sought. That decision allowed the election to proceed, which Joan Laporta won. The Catalan Sports Tribunal’s admission of the appeal opens the door to a review of the electoral procedure, which can include a possible repetition of the elections.
The practical stakes are significant. A ruling fully favourable to Ciria could lead to demands for a possible repetition of the election, a scenario that would generate considerable institutional turbulence at a club already navigating complex legal terrain. The admission indicates the tribunal is proceeding with consideration of the procedural challenge.
The eight-day window for submissions means the next procedural step will be the tribunal’s consideration of the arguments after that period. The tribunal’s eventual ruling will have implications for the review of the electoral procedure in this dispute.
