FC Barcelona president Josep Maria Bartomeu faces vote of no confidence

Barcelona president Josep Maria Bartomeu and his board will face a vote of no confidence after the club validated 16,521 signatures needed to force a referendum.

The Més que una Moció platform was launched at the beginning of September after months of planning from 'socis', and easily passed the required number of signatures.

Those are currently being officially validated by Barca, with over 16,521 now confirmed to be legitimate as of Wednesday morning.

"Objective accomplished," censure motion representative and pre-candidate for the next presidential elections Jordi Farre wrote on Twitter.

"I want to thank the members who have signed. We believed that it could be done. It's been a tough few days."

A referendum is now set to take place somewhere between the next 10 and 20 days, with 66 per cent needed to be against Bartomeu in order to remove the president and his board immediately from their roles.

If that happens, fresh elections will take place in January, two months earlier than the planned vote in March, which Bartomeu brought forward after the 8-2 defeat to Bayern Munich in the Champions League.

But Farre called for the 57-year-old, who will be unable to stand again next year after two terms in charge, to step down straight away.

"I don't think there will be a referendum, he said. "I think Bartomeu and his board will resign.

"I ask them to save themselves the bitter pill and to leave now, so elections can be called as soon as possible."