BARCELONA president Josep Maria Bartomeu was reportedly forced to call an emergency meeting with his staff with the Catalan club in disarray.
The La Liga giants were forced to deny sensational claims they paid a PR firm to attack stars such as Lionel Messi and Gerard Pique online.
Lionel Messi was apparently targetted by a PR company paid by BarcelonaCredit: Alamy Live News
Barca president Josep Maria Bartomeu was forced to call an emergency to respond to the claimsCredit: Alamy Live News
It was suggested that Barca worked alongside I3 Ventures to protect Bartomeu’s reputation by altering public opinion on Twitter and Facebook.
These included attacks on Messi’s reluctance to sign a new contract, while Pique was targetted following his project to revamp the Davis Cup.
According to Spanish outlet AS, Bartomeu decided to summon the Delegate Commission on Wednesday to discuss the club’s current situation.
The 57-year-old was joined by vice-presidents Jordi Cardoner, Jordi Moix, and Enrique Tombas, alongside secretary Maria Teixidor and the CEO, Oscar Grau.
Bartomeu had reportedly planned to give Barcelona’s board explanations for the club’s recent off-field problems on Friday, but Pique’s public outburst forced him to speed up the timeline.
The Spanish defender called a journalist a “puppet” in response to a Twitter statement by the writer regarding the PR firm allegations.
Marcal Lorente had wrote: “I have known the environment and idiosyncrasies of Barcelona and the club’s members for many years and fortunately they can’t be as easily manipulated, they are more intelligent and know perfectly how to identify those who want to use the media, political and economic interests to make it at Barca.”
To which, an unimpressed Pique fired back a one-word response: “Puppet.”
Tensions at Barcelona have continued to escalate in recent weeks following captain Messi’s public fall-out with club sporting director Eric Abidal.
The Frenchman had accused the Nou Camp players of not putting in enough effort under Ernesto Valverde prior to his sacking.
That prompted former teammate Messi to respond on Instagram as he demanded Abidal “name names”.
Eric Abidal had publicly accused Barcelona’s stars of not working hard enough under Ernesto ValverdeCredit: Getty Images – Getty
Lionel Messi ‘snubs pre-match Barcelona huddle and then had a frosty exchange with Gerard Pique ahead of Valencia clash
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
