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BARCELONA • Barcelona will bring legal action against a former vice-president who has made accusations of corruption within the club’s management.
Emili Rousaud, one of six directors to resign on Thursday, had said that someone at the club had “put their hands in the till”. Barcelona denied the accusations.
“The board of directors categorically denies any action that could be described as corruption and has agreed to bring the corresponding criminal action accordingly,” the La Liga champions said in a statement on Monday.
“FC Barcelona cannot tolerate allegations that seriously damage the institution’s image. The criminal action to be taken is in defence of the honour of the club and its employees. The existence of an ongoing audit must put an end to this matter.”
Rousaud’s allegations focus on February’s social media controversy, when Barcelona were accused of hiring a company called I3 Ventures to discredit opponents of club president Josep Maria Bartomeu online, including players like Lionel Messi and Gerard Pique.
“If the auditors tell us the cost of these services is €100,000 (S$155,000) and we have paid one million, it means someone has put their hand in the till,” Rousaud told the programme RAC1 on Friday. Bartomeu terminated the club’s contract with I3 Ventures in February.
Barcelona added in their statement that an audit of the club’s social media monitoring contracts being carried out by PriceWaterhouseCoopers was being slowed down by the coronavirus pandemic.
The announcement is the latest episode in a political crisis for the club under Bartomeu.
All the resigned board members including vice-president Enrique Tombas and directors Silvio Elias, Josep Pont, Jordi Calsamiglia and Maria Teixidor, have called for next year’s presidential election to be brought forward.
Rousaud had been appointed a vice-president in January and was seen as a leading candidate to succeed Bartomeu, who cannot stand again for the post because he had already served two terms.
In recent months, Bartomeu has been involved in a string of political spats being played out in public.
In January, Messi hit out at Eric Abidal, the club’s sporting director, for suggesting the players were to blame for the sacking of coach Ernesto Valverde.
And last month, the Argentinian star criticised the club’s handling of negotiations with the squad over pay cuts during the pandemic.
