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Police in Catalonia have reportedly arrested former Barcelona president Josep Maria Bartomeu, and different high-ranking officers, following a raid of the membership’s places of work on Monday.
It pertains to the ‘Barcagate’ scandal from final yr the place it was claimed that the membership had paid a social media firm to plant on-line criticism of key Barcelona figures.
The club vehemently denied the allegations that noticed Lionel Messi, Pep Guardiola, Xavi and Gerard Pique amongst these allegedly focused by I3 Ventures.
On Monday, Cadena SER reported that Bartomeu had been arrested by the Catalan police, together with three different males.
Chief government Oscar Grau, authorized head Roman Gomez and Bartomeu’s former advisor Jaume Masferrer had been additionally detained.
The police additionally carried out a search of the Barcelona places of work in July final yr with extra paperwork seized.
As soon as the claims emerged in early 2020, former chief Bartomeu admitted to hiring I3 Ventures for social media evaluation however insisted the settlement had no hyperlink to criticism of Messi or anybody else.
An exterior audit by PricewaterhouseCoopers was commissioned, which discovered no wrongdoing on the membership’s behalf and the contracts had been cancelled.
However the police launched an investigation following a grievance by eight membership members.
Pique, one of many gamers allegedly focused, spoke out in regards to the allegations final October.
He stated: “It’s a shame the membership truly spent cash to criticise us.
“It’s an atrocity as a Barcelona participant to see my membership spending cash – cash they’re now asking for from us – to criticise not simply exterior individuals with a earlier relationship to the membership, however gamers nonetheless right here.”
Bartomeu stepped down as president of the membership final October following the high-profile falling out with Messi that resulted of their star participant attempting to power a transfer away.
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