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"It has been an honour to serve this club" - Bartomeu resigns

VIDEO SHOWS: BARCELONA PRESIDENT JOSEP MARIA BARTOMEU ANNOUNCING HIS RESIGNATION AT NEWS CONFERENCE

RESENDING WITH COMPLETE SCRIPT

SHOWS: BARCELONA, SPAIN (OCTOBER 27, 2020) (BARCA TV - MUST NOT OBSCURE LOGO)

1. BARCELONA PRESIDENT, JOSEP MARIA BARTOMEU, ARRIVING FOR NEWS CONFERENCE AND TAKING FACE MASK OFF

2. (SOUNDBITE) (Catalan) BARCELONA PRESIDENT, JOSEP MARIA BARTOMEU, SAYING:

"Good evening members, I am here to communicate to you my resignation and the resignation of the entire board. It has been a thought-out, serene, informed decision."

3. WHITE FLASH

4. (SOUNDBITE) (Catalan) BARCELONA PRESIDENT, JOSEP MARIA BARTOMEU, SAYING:

"As you know, today we received the response of the Generalitat (Catalan regional government) to the letter we sent them yesterday."

5. WHITE FLASH

6. (SOUNDBITE) (Catalan) BARCELONA PRESIDENT, JOSEP MARIA BARTOMEU, SAYING:

"The Generalitat demanded that voting be decentralized. Short and simple. It made no mention of the meetings that we have had in recent days and of our request for a 15-day delay to organize the complicated logistics necessary for this vote in 21 venues that would respect the indispensable health safety measures."

7. WHITE FLASH

8. (SOUNDBITE) (Catalan) BARCELONA PRESIDENT, JOSEP MARIA BARTOMEU, SAYING:

"These decisions, besides being contradictory, are irresponsible."

9. WHITE FLASH

10. (SOUNDBITE) (Catalan) BARCELONA PRESIDENT, JOSEP MARIA BARTOMEU, SAYING:

"This is why we made the decision to not go forward with the vote and immediately resign."

11. WHITE FLASH

12. (SOUNDBITE) (Catalan) BARCELONA PRESIDENT, JOSEP MARIA BARTOMEU, SAYING:

"It has been an honour to serve this club and all my responsibilities."

13. BARTOMEU THANKING EVERYONE, MEMBERS IN PUBLIC APPLAUDING, END OF NEWS CONFERENCE

STORY: Barcelona president Josep Maria Bartomeu resigned from the club on Tuesday (October 27) ahead of a vote of no confidence that was due to be held next month after some 20,000 fans signed a petition demanding he step down.

The rest of the board of directors also resigned.

"It's a thought-out, serene, informed decision" to resign, Bartomeu said in a televised speech.

Bartomeu, 57, has been facing growing resentment in the last year due to the club's worsening finances and the team's decline on the pitch, which came to a head with their 8-2 defeat to Bayern Munich in the Champions League quarter-finals in August.

He has been widely criticised after talisman forward Lionel Messi requested a transfer following the Champions League humiliation and was facing a vote of no confidence from the club's 'socios'.

He had tried to convince the Catalan government to scrap the censure vote due to the coronavirus pandemic but it would not budge.

Bartomeu called the government's decision irresponsible in his speech, while thanking the club and saying he could not have resigned earlier.

(Production: May Ponzo)