Marc Ciria, a pre-candidate for FC Barcelona presidency and leader of "Moviment 42", on Wednesday morning unveiled a large banner with an image of Leo Messi on a building at the corner of Travessera de Gràcia and Aribau in central Barcelona.
The banner uses a well-known photograph of Messi showing his shirt to the Santiago Bernabéu crowd and includes a Catalan message reading "Ganas de volver a ver e". The action is an explicit reference to the banner Joan Laporta displayed near the Bernabéu at the end of 2020 during his electoral campaign.
People close to Messi say the player and his entourage have chosen to stay completely out of the elections and that there have been no contacts or meetings with any pre-candidate. Nevertheless, Ciria is using Messi's image as part of his campaign, positioning it against Laporta: in 2021 Laporta promised to resolve the situation of the No. 10, won the elections, but that summer Messi left after 20 years at the club.
Last November Messi returned briefly to Barcelona and visited the Camp Nou works at night; the next morning he posted photos and a message on social media saying he missed the place and hoped to return someday. Ciria presented his programme at his campaign headquarters on Wednesday afternoon and requested 10,000 petition forms to pass the first cut — candidates need 2,337 endorsements before March 2. Main rivals are Joan Laporta, Víctor Font and Xavier Vilajoana; who advances past the first cut will be known on March 5, and final candidacies will be announced ahead of the March 15 election.
