‘Leo loves Barca’: Laporta hopeful on Messi after election win

Laporta became president for a second time as club members voted him in to replace Bartomeu.

Joan Laporta was elected Barcelona president again, inheriting a football club in crisis and facing daunting problems that include a huge debt and the possible departure of star player Lionel Messi when his contract finishes at the end of the season. Laporta became president for a second time as club members voted him in to replace Josep Maria Bartomeu. Laporta, 58, beat Victor Font and Toni Freixa in the election on Sunday for the position he previously held between 2003 and 2010.