Barcelona has always been a club where soccer and politics collide, but rarely have Lionel Messi, Victor Font, and Joan Laporta been pulled so sharply into the same orbit. As the presidential race begins to take shape, the team finds itself navigating a storm in which nostalgia, power, and unhealed wounds intertwine. And hovering over it all is a six-word claim—one Font insists changes everything—carefully concealed for now, but potent enough to reshape the coming campaign.
The battle for the club’s future is underway, even before an election date is made official, and the candidates have already chosen their ground: identity, governance, and the legacy of the greatest player the club has ever known.
The upcoming Barcelona presidential election, expected to take place toward the end of the 2025-26 season, has cracked open the emotional fault lines left behind by Messi’s departure. Víctor Font, the challenger who fell short in 2021, is now positioning himself as the candidate who will restore order, transparency, and crucially, the broken relationships around the club.
Speaking to Mundo Deportivo, Font insisted that the Argentine’s hypothetical return would “give me goosebumps,” before pivoting to a direct criticism of the current president. “What we shouldn’t do is try to exploit him. I think Laporta has done it, and he’s done it many times, and I think he’s done it wrong.”
Barcelona President Joan Laporta and Lionel Messi
For him, the issue is not merely symbolic. It’s structural, it’s strategic, and it’s deeply personal for the Blaugrana fans. He argues that “the most recent and obvious instance” of misuse was the 2021 elections, when Laporta campaigned heavily on keeping Messi—only for the Argentine to join PSG just months later. “It’s yet another example of a broken promise,” Font said.
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The six-word bombshell that changes the debate
It is here, in the heart of his broader critique, that Victor Font delivers the six words he believes define the club president’s failure—and directly implicate Real Madrid’s most powerful figure. Font claims that in 2021, amid negotiations over La Liga’s financial rules, the CVC investment, and the European Super League (ESL), Laporta faced a decisive choice. And, according to Font, Laporta chose the wrong side.
“He chose Florentino Perez over Leo”, Font accused Laporta. He insists that the club’s failure to retain Messi was not inevitable, not imposed, not unavoidable. Citing the later activation of financial levers, he argues the club did have the means—and lost its way due to political alignment rather than financial crisis. “Barca had the potential to retain Messi in 2021,” he revealed, “but we got to June promising that he would be renewed… and then it didn’t happen.” This is more than a criticism. It is an accusation of betrayal.
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