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Xavi Hernandez reached out to Luis Suarez and Lionel Messi regarding their potential involvement in Barcelona's upcoming elections. This comes as Joan Laporta prepares for his fourth term after winning nearly 70% of the vote in March.
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Xavi Hernandez called Luis Suarez and Lionel Messi about getting involved in Barcelona elections
Barcelona are a little over two months away from the return of Joan Laporta to the presidency this summer, as he begins a fourth mandate. In March, Laporta ran out victorious in the club elections, winning nearly 70% of the vote and beating out rival candidate Victor Font for a second election in a row.
That was despite the fact that Font had the backing of Xavi, who also made several controversial claims about Laporta. The pair worked together between 2021 and 2024, with Xavi in charge as manager for 2.5 seasons, delivering a La Liga title and a Spanish Supercup. Things ended on bad terms though, and Xavi was originally held up as the main face behind Font’s campaign in 2021.
Following the release of the interview when Xavi claimed that Laporta had sabotaged Lionel Messi’s return to the club in 2024, Catalunya Radio have claimed that he also tried to get Messi and Luis Suarez involved in the elections. They say that he set up a videocall with Messi and Suarez in Miami, and tried to persuade them to show public support for Xavi’s claims in the interview. This of course would have had an impact on the elections, at the time, a week away.
On Messi’s part, no such backing arrived. As has been the case since he was a player at Barcelona, he did his best to remain isolated from any campaigning. Suarez did like Xavi’s post on social media, but Messi explained that he preferred not to get involved. Privately, he did congratulate Xavi on the interview he had given.
Xavi Hernandez called Luis Suarez and Lionel Messi to discuss their potential involvement in the upcoming Barcelona elections.
Joan Laporta won the Barcelona elections in March 2023, securing nearly 70% of the vote.
Xavi was previously supportive of rival candidate Victor Font during the last election, despite having worked with Laporta as manager.
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Former Sporting Director Mateu Alemany has backed up Xavi’s story, but Laporta has denied this to be the case, accusing both of lying. Xavi also claimed that it was Laporta’s ex-brother-in-law, Alejandro Echevarria, who was calling the shots at the club, rather than the elected president.