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Incumbent Josep Maria Bartomeu wins election to remain Barcelona president

Josep Maria Bartomeu will retain his position of president of Barcelona after winning Saturday's election.

Bartomeu capitalised on the team's success last season to defeat three challengers despite being a suspect in a fraud case and a FIFA ban on signing new players.

The 52-year-old won 54.63 percent of the vote, a comfortable advantage over rivals Joan Laporta (33.03 percent), Agusti Benedito (7.16) and Toni Freixa (3.70)

Bartomeu took over the presidency in January 2014 after predecessor Sandro Rosell resigned. He will control the reigning Spanish and European champions for the next six years.

Barcelona are owned by more than 150,000 members, only 43 percent of whom turned out to vote for president.

Barcelona's success last season -- they won the Champions League, La Liga and Copa del Rey while returning a record €608 million profit -- meant Bartomeu was likely to retain his spot.

"We must continue to be the number one club and these six years are very important," Bartomeu said after casting his vote on Saturday morning.

Bartomeu remains a suspect in a magistrate's ongoing investigation into alleged misappropriation of funds to sign Brazil striker Neymar.

FIFA imposed a one-year ban on Barcelona signing new players, through 2015, after concluding they violated rules regulating the transfer of underage players at their La Masia academy.

Bartomeu, a businessman with companies involved in airport and seaport facilities, first joined Barcelona's board under Laporta from 2003-05 as executive head of its basketball and handball teams.

He returned to the club under Rosell, taking over the supervision of its football team and overseeing the signing of players like Neymar.

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.