Published 20:13 IST, March 1st 2021
Barcagate scandal: Barcelona fans react to SHOCKING arrests at Camp Nou including Bartomeu
The Catalan police raided the Camp Nou in a search and seize operation on Monday in relation to the Barcagate scandal. Former president Bartomeu was arrested.
On Monday morning, the Catalan police raided the Camp Nou stadium in a search and seize operation in relation to the Barcagate scandal. The most notable arrest was that of the club's former president Josep Maria Bartomeu. Other arrests included former Barcelona CEO Oscar Grau and legal services head, Roman Gomez Ponti.
What is Barcagate social media scandal?
Things seem to have gone from bad to worse for Barcelona as three of their high-profile club management people were arrested in relation to the Barcagate social media scandal that took place in February 2020. The club's former president Joseph Bartomeu was accused of paying money to a third-party company asking them to smear the image of current and former players alongside other presidential candidates on social media. However, about a year ago the club had denied these allegations and had also terminated its contract with I3 Ventures, the firm responsible for operating Barcelona's social media accounts
An external audit by PricewaterhouseCoopers helped clear the club of any wrongdoing as they found out that the club did not pay an inflated price for any of I3's services. Despite this audit, the local authorities have continued investigating and conducting their own research since the beginning of 2020. Several raids have been conducted on Barcelona's office ever since this story was revealed.
As per the allegations, I3 Ventures along with Bartomeu and others were involved in attacking the social media accounts of various people related to the club. At first, it was believed that only former players such as Xavi Hernandez and Pep Guardiola were attacked. However, it was later revealed that the attacks were also made on current players such as Gerard Pique and Lionel Messi.
Fans react to Barcagate social media scandal
As news of the incident surfaced on the internet, several fans of Football Club Barcelona reacted to the announcement of Bartomeu's arrest. On Twitter, one called for a "life sentence please". Another fan referred to the shocking incident as an "ABSOLUTE SHAME." A third wrote, "I already knew this would happen".
Camp Nou raid takes place week ahead of Barcelona elections
The Camp Nou raid takes place just a week prior to the crucial Barcelona presidential elections. The elections are scheduled to take place on March 7 and more than 20,000 Barcelona members are believed to have already cast their votes. Three candidates are in the running for this election: Victor Font, Joan Laporta and Toni Freixa.
LaLiga standings
As things stand, Barcelona are currently five points behind league leaders Atletico Madrid, having played a game more. After a slow start to the campaign, Barcelona seem to have found some form, having remained unbeaten in their last 15 league games (W12 D3). Their last defeat was against Cádiz back in December.
Updated 20:13 IST, March 1st 2021