Víctor Font announces he will run in Barcelona's next elections

Catalan businessman Victor Font has announced that he will run in the elections to become Barcelona president in 2021. 

Font, under the slogan "Yes to the future", hopes to replace Josep Maria Bartomeu and has three fundamental ideas: modernise the club financially, put the sporting side of things in the hands of ex plyers and get closer to the club's members. 

After initially appearing set to run in 2015, Font eventually decided to wait and work on his project, leaving the elections to Bartomeu, Joan Laporta, Agustí Benedito and Toni Freixa. 

However, Font, who participated in Marc Ingla's 2010 campaign (which was won by Sandro Rosell) now believes he is in a position to run and has announced his candidacy three years in advance. 

He has created a website (sialfutur.cat) in which he explains his project in four points: 

LET'S WIN: "We need to gather the talent of the best generation of football players in history, and ensure that decisions in the sporting area are made by them." By the best generation of footballers, he means Pep Guardiola's Barça, with Xavi, Puyol and Valdés as reference points from La Masia.

LET'S COMPETE: "If we want to compete and at the same time keep the club’s ownership in the hands of its members, we must rethink the revenue generation model." According to Font, "we must be able to sell products and services directly to the millions of Barça fans all over the world, minimising intermediaries." 

LET'S DECIDE: "It is necessary to redefine the club’s governance model and the members’ role in decision making." Font adds that "we must make sure that each decision made by the club is managed by those with the appropriate skills and experience. The prerequisite to join the board cannot be limited to the capacity to underwrite the club’s budget."

UNIQUE: "Let’s take advantage of Barça’s influence to help face the main challenges posed by 21st century society." For Victor Font, that means that "we must use the influence that Barça has all over the world to develop an ambitious set of initiatives to contribute to face the main challenges posed by 21st century society. We must prove that we want to continue being 'more than a club' in the future." 

Víctor Font i Manté (Granollers, Barcelona, August 12, 1972) is a telecommunications, media and technology entrepreneur. He is the co-founder and CEO of Delta Partners, a company with offices in Barcelona, Bogotá, Dubái, Johannesburg, New York, San Francisco and Singapur.