Barcelona Presidential Election 2015: Date, Time, Voting Format and Candidates

Barcelona's next president, who will head the Catalan club for the coming four years, is set to be decided in Saturday's elections.

Following lengthy campaigns from the candidates, the Barca members will head to the polls to vote in the hope of leaving their club in good hands.

Incumbent Josep Maria Bartomeu is the favourite, but Joan Laporta—who previously held the post between 2003 and 2010—could give him a run for his money.

Here are all the details ahead of the election and a rundown of the candidates.

Date: Saturday, July 18

Time: Voting takes place between 9 a.m. and 9 p.m. BST

Candidates: Josep Maria Bartomeu, Joan Laporta, Agusti Benedito, Toni Freixa

Bartomeu Heads the Pack

The current holder of the post, Bartomeu is the most likely man to be elected on Saturday.

However, Laporta will not go down without a fight, and he has been using his relationship with Barca superstar Lionel Messi as a key weapon in his campaign.

He has described his relationship with the Argentine as "telepathic" and insisted the forward will "always be happy" at the club if he is elected, per Sid Lowe on ESPN FC. 

Laporta has also promised to make a change to the shirt sponsorship, per football writer Paul Morrissey:

The 53-year-old has put together a decent campaign and has experience of the role from his previous stint in charge.

However, Bartomeu still leads the way and holds an apparent lead on the rest of the candidates, per La Liga writer Rafael Hernandez:

It will be close, but Bartomeu has an advantage in already being in the role. He has overseen the glory of the 2014-15 Treble in which Barca won the La Liga title, the Copa del Rey and the Champions League.

The Neymar scandal and the Qatar sponsorship deal—which he has tried to justify per Spanish football writer Sergi Dominguez—count against him: 

But the performances of the Barca team could prove his trump card and could well win the 52-year-old the election.

Benedito has been hugely critical of Bartomeu in the campaign, while Freixa has marketed himself as the strong alternative option from the front-runners, but neither will likely come close to winning the election.

The polling takes place on the Camp Nou site, with 109,637 members eligible to vote so long as they are over the age of 18 and have at least one year's membership, per Goal.com's Kris Voakes.

Nowhere near all of those eligible will take part in the vote, however, as it is a requirement to be present on site on the day.

There is only one round of voting, and whoever gets the most votes wins. It's really quite simple. However, the outcome is important and will influence the direction taken by the club in the future.

Who will succeed is tough to predict, but Bartomeu is the man to beat.