Police on Monday raided FC Barcelona headquarters, seized evidence and detained four club officials. The arrest, on the eve of the club’s presidential election, also created a further crisis for soccer, which was mitigated by looting, boardroom fights and poor performances on the field.
A spokesman for the regional police force of Mossos de Esquadra in Calabria said its economic crime unit had obtained evidence from Barcelona offices. She added that investigations are ongoing and four people have been detained, but citing police policy, declined to name the individuals.
Some news outlets have reported that the four people arrested were leading current and former officials of the club: former president Josep Maria Bartomeu, who resigned in December, shortly after he faced a vote of no confidence; Sc Sker Gray, the club’s chief executive; Roman Gomez Ponty, head of his legal services; And Bartomeu’s advisor J au May Masferer.
Barcelona said in a statement that the club offered full co-operation to legal and police officials in making clear facts on the subject of the investigation.
Investigators have been focusing on Barcelona’s affairs for months, then provocative revelations suggest the club secretly hired an outside marketing company to produce obscure content about some of its most important and high-profile players, including Lionel Messi and Gerard Pique. Is.
The team denied any wrongdoing and hired a consultant PWC to complete an audit of its relationship with marketing company I3 Ventures, but police continued their investigation.
A police investigation in Barcelona has been closely monitored by Spanish news media, calling the affair “Barcagate”. Bartomeu said in February that he had no idea the company was involved in spreading negative content targeting Barcelona players, and that although the club had terminated the contract, the stain remained.
The club’s offices were raided just days before Barcelona’s 100,000 members would choose Bartomeu’s successor, and it is another hit to the club’s reputation that it has been a benchmark in world soccer for years. “More than a club.” Operated under the motto, the team liked to present itself as a class as a team with values.
Baromeu’s resignation came months after Bayern Munich’s defeat at the hands of Europe’s richest club, the Soccer Championship, and a public participation with Messi, eliminated Bayern Munich at the eliminated-2, and was publicly the best player in the history of the game.
Messi called Bartomeu’s board a “disaster” and demanded that the 13-year-old from Argentina be allowed to leave the club. The club denied Messi’s request and the player backed him, declaring that he would be in a position to take the issue to court.
With Messi’s contract he could go to the end of this season, but he has said he has not decided what he will do.
Bartomeu has been battling negative headlines for more than a year, and his tenure as president, which began in 2014 amid previous scandals, has been marked by many turmoil. Last spring, in Tuma, six members of the club’s board resigned and they were made public with their criticism of Bartomeu.
His declining center had contracts with 13 ventures, and allegations were made that he was behind fake social media accounts – believed to be supporters of Barcelona – who believed in Bartomeu’s opponents. They include Victor Font, a clear word candidate for the club’s next president, and popular players such as Messi and Pique.
The team’s finances are more vague than at any time in its recent history. Earlier this year, it released financial statements showing more than 1 1 billion, about લગભગ 1.2 billion in payments to its lenders, tax officials and rival clubs, with more than મિ 600 million to be paid in the short term.
The club has held emergency talks with banks to resolve its problems, and club officials are also selling some of the team’s commercial assets to investors to raise 250 million.
Like most teams in Europe, due to the coronavirus epidemic this season, has played without spectators this season, and the team’s revenue forecast has been crate. The club’s Cavernous Nu Camp Stadium and museum are generally the two most visited tourist spots in Spain and the loss of revenue and other revenue could reach around 600 million euros, club officials recently told the Times.
On the field, the picture is hardly better.
Even after Messi’s return, the club’s performance has been a shadow of his impressive past. Barcelona suffered another Champions League humiliation last month, losing 4-1 to Paris Saint-Germain in the first leg of their two-game, round-of-16 match. Defeat means elimination from this year’s tournament is a sure thing.
Barcelona have rallied from a poor start to move to second place in the Spanish league table, but are still five points behind leaders Atletico Madrid, thanks in part to the success of striker Luis Suarez, whose contract has been scrapped. By Barcelona before the start of the season.
