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"Some of the board feel the whole thing unethical" | Balague on Barca turmoil

Guillem Balague joined Off The Ball from his Spanish on Tuesday to talk about the seemingly-endle...



Guillem Balague joined Off The Ball from his Spanish on Tuesday to talk about the seemingly-endless upheaval at Barcelona.

The situation at Barcelona has seen the club go through several recent controversies including mass resignations in the boardroom.

The impending election at the club is seen as one reason for the recent turmoil at the club, the other Balague says is the "dire financial situation at the club."

"They bring in more money than anyone else but they spend more than anyone else too.

"Seventy odd percent is to wages for the first team. For a team that needs recycling and needs big decisions being taken and are not going to be taken by the board and Josep Maria Bartomeu who have got very close to the players.

It is alleged a company was paid to conduct a social media swear campaign against Bartomeu's rivals, paid for by the club.

"In terms of the social media scandal, Bartomeu can deny whatever he wants but money has been spent on a social media campaign," says Balague.

"If you look at what that company has done, yes it can be divided into two groups. It has created profiles on the internet that defend Bartomeu and attack players."

Hidden Payments

Ballague then laid out how the attempts to keep the payments hidden from the board made was a key factor in worsening the crisis.

"What's very dangerous and what has created the latest crisis, is that there is a way to avoid the board knowing about it or knowing about the payments, which is to arrange the payments below €200,000

"The payments to this company were in instalments below €200,000, the clear idea was to avoid the board knowing about it.

"Why did they want to hide it? Well, many reasons. One, it is a campaign that affects players like Messi for instance, there were insults about Messi.

"It's being investigated, the company are denying they did this, but let's see the independent analysis of it and comes out with some kind of conclusion.

"Some members of the board feel the whole thing was unethical and they couldn't continue defending the board and there was a general feeling that Bartomeu, as happens when you are in power, it makes you crazy.

"They feel it was not done democratically."

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