[goldenHuddlestone]

Barcelona club member Francesc Linan Serra has said he wants to stand against Joan Laporta in the European champions presidential election being held on Sept. 3. The former Barcelona handball player needs to collect the signatures required to become an official candidate, something he has failed to achieve in previous election campaigns.

The main problem with Barca as a club is that they are the most financially viable club possibly in the world but their ticket prices are high so Serra has promised to at least cu a quarter of the price of tickets.

Laportas former vice-president Sandro Rossell, and Jordi Majo and Josep Maria Minguella who stood in the 2003 election, have said they will not join the race. Potential candidates have complained about the scheduling of the electoral campaign during the holidays, throwing up the possibility that Laporta could stand unopposed.

Two weeks ago, Judge Roberto Garcia Ceniceros upheld a complaint from three club members who said Laporta had already served his four-year tenure as president. He ruled that, according to the clubs statutes, the year ran from July to June, and that since Laporta had officially taken power on June 22, 2003 the eight days before the end of that month constituted his first year in office.

Laportas four-year term would, therefore, have expired on June 30 this year.