Former Barcelona presidential candidate Agusti Benedito has revealed that his vote of no confidence appeal against the club's board has failed.
Benedito had hoped to overhaul the current Camp Nou regime, which has been led by under-fire president Josep Maria Bartomeu since January 2014.
The backing of 16,570 members - 15% of Barca's members - was required for a vote to be held, but only 12,504 had come forward by the time of the deadline on Wednesday.
Defeat has now been admitted by Benedito, who said in a statement: "We're calling time on the vote of no confidence. This is our last news conference. We did not expect that the club would complicate things so much, mainly with regards to the dates.
"The board has come down tough on us because the vote was going to be a success. We're not planning another vote of no confidence because it's a big effort - financially, too. Although it would not surprise me if someone else did because the reasons remain."
Bartomeu's tenure has come under fire following the loss of Neymar to Paris Saint-Germain in the summer, as well as missing out on a number of top targets.
Daniel Lewis
