Bartomeu and right-hand man freed on bail

BarcelonaJosep Maria Bartomeu, ex-president of Barça, and Jaume Masferrer, ex-chief of the club presidency's cabinet, are awaiting a court order after spending the night in Les Corts police station. The two have invoked their right not to testify and have been released with charges. This implies that the two remain under investigation for two alleged crimes of unfair administration and corruption between individuals as a result of the hiring of company I3Ventures, in exchange for one million euros, to create states of opinion on social networks favourable to the management of Bartomeu's board and contrary to players like Gerard Piqué or Leo Messi, presidential candidates Victor Font and Joan Laporta or businessmen like Jaume Roures.

The magistrate of Barcelona's court number 13 which is investigating the case has also finally made the investigation public, after postponing this step on six previous occasions. Barça continues as a harmed party but is not accused. This fact, in principle, exempts the club from responsibilities derived from any possible crime, which would instead have to be assumed by the directives at the helm.

Yesterday, the Catalan police arrested Bartomeu, Masferrer, Òscar Grau (current CEO of the entity) and Roman Gomez Ponti (head of legal) as part of the investigation by the Barçagate. Grau and Gómez Ponti were released on Monday. However, Bartomeu and Masferrer had to spend the night at the police station before being released this morning.