On March 1, Catalan police raided the Barcelona FC offices, arresting former president Josep Bartomeu among several others, in connection with claims of wrong-doing that emerged last year under the term 'Barcagate'.
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Spanish laywer Jorge Navarro was seen leaving the building while the police operation took place inside. This is the latest raid (another took place in June 2020) in relation to Barcagate, a series of claims that the club, under Bartomeu, hired a third-party social media company to smear the reputations of former and current players, such as Messi and Xavi.
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Staff and potential presidential candidates were also targets of the alleged social media smear campaign. Bartomeu, his adviser Jaume Masferrer, club CEO Oscar Grau and head of legal services, Roman Gomez Ponti, were all reportedly arrested as part of the investigation on Monday.
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Members of police were seen searching a car outside of the Barca office building. Despite an earlier external audit clearing Bartomeu and his associates of related charges, the police have continued with their investigation. The club also vehemently denied Barcagate claims last year.
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Photographers catch a glimpse of Guillem Graell, Chief Marketing Officer and Director of Brand at the club, entering the building during the police investigation.
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A security guard reportedly entered the building with a dog during the raid.
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Journalists surrounded the Barca FC offices to capture the arrests on Monday.
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A police officer leaves the building.
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Barcelona FC have released a statement since the arrests, circulated via Spanish press. In it, they claim "full collaboration with the judicial and police authority in order to clarify the facts object of this investigation," as well as "maximum respect for the judicial procedure and the principle of presumption of innocence of the persons affected."
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Bartomeu stepped down as president in October 2020, though his resignation was not connected to Barcagate. A presidential election is set to take place in six days.
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Bartomeu has been a divisive figure as of late. After Messi tried to leave Barcelona FC this season and was supposedly thwarted by the club, Messi called Barca's management under Bartomeu a "disaster".
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