Barsagate – what you need to know about the scandal that Bartomeu was arrested for
On Monday, March 1, the news of the arrest of former President of Barcelona Josep Maria Bartomeu spread around the world.
In addition, law enforcement agencies raided the club’s office in the course of an investigation into financial and legal irregularities in the activities of the Barcelona leadership. This case is called Barsagate.
ISPORT talks about a major scandal surrounding the ex-president of Barcelona.
What is Barsagate?
The Barsagate investigation began with the radio program Què t’hi Jugues! on Cadena SER on February 17, 2020. At the time, a source claimed that Barcelona had hired I3 Ventures, whose job it was to mold the positive image of then Barcelona President Josep Bartomeu while vilifying and criticizing football players.
So, in various accounts on social networks, the actions of the board of directors of the “blue garnet” were strongly supported, and the players, including Gerard Piqué and Lionel Messi, were criticized.
Not avoided such “denigrating” publications and former football players such as Xavi pin up and Carles Puyol, as well as the legendary ex-football player and Barcelona coach Josep Guardiola. In general, all those who at least somehow spoke out against Bartomeu became the object of criticism.
Josep Maria Bartomeu / Source: Getty Images