• The Barcelona denies being linked to 'fake' accounts that attack its players

Josep Maria Bartomeu , president of Barcelona , went to the Auditori 1899 of the Camp Nou on Tuesday to present Jorge Valdano with the XIV International Journalism Prize Vázquez Montalbán . On a day in which he paid tribute to the journalistic profession, the chief executive turned to the latest scandal that cornered his delirious government : the hiring of a 'big data' company, I3 Ventures , which was allegedly dedicated since autumn of 2017 to praise Bartomeu's work, but also to discredit his own players , such as Messi or Piqué, or banners such as Pep Guardiola or Xavi Hernández.

Bartomeu, that until Tuesday, had only been protected by a communiqué, ended up taking the floor. Of course. No questions involved . And after thanking UEFA for the penalty of two seasons without playing the Champions League at Manchester City for violating the financial Fair Play. The president of Barcelona announced that he terminated the contract with the company 13 Ventures , whose administrator, Carlos Ibáñez, also controls the company Nicestream. The president did not speak in any case of taking legal action against these companies, to which the Cadena Ser attributed up to six Facebook accounts that were dedicated to eroding different personalities of Barcelona .

"To be clear, I have no doubt that Barcelona has not hired any service to discredit soccer players, presidents or former presidents. That is flatly false . We will defend ourselves against anyone who accuses us of such practices." But that did not end there, because Bartomeu did admit the hiring of said company at the end of 2017, and also the connection of I3 Ventures with one of the reported Facebook accounts. "Apart from the confirmation of one of the accounts that have commented, this morning we have instructed to terminate the contract with that company." The president of Barcelona continued with the same thread of the statement issued by the club on Monday: " If we commission a monitoring? Yes. And we will continue to do so to preserve Barça . If we have commissioned to discredit it? No. And we will defend where necessary ".

The Cadena Ser, responsible for uncovering the matter and which reported the payment of one million euros to the aforementioned company, unveiled a 36-page dossier signed by Nicestream in which the activity of six Facebook profiles was detailed in which multiple personalities were attacked, including the world of independence.

Although there is another document, this one of eight pages, shown by the Cadena Ser and also signed by the company Nicestream, in which a cybernetic action plan is established against one of the great candidates for the presidency of Barcelona, ​​the businessman Víctor Font . This plan had to be carried out before the presentation in Font's company at an appearance at the Auditori Axa in Barcelona, ​​on January 31, 2019.

"Starting today and in the next few days we will start a campaign of interventions to bother the candidate for the presidency of FCB Víctor Font . We will operate with our accounts, asking questions and criticisms of Víctor Font's speech with the aim of adding organic support against the candidate. The goal is to bother Font and the rest of the 'Yes to the Futur' candidacy in the days prior to the submission of the candidacy. "

Thus, the document marks a series of questions to ask regarding the role of La Masia ("Do you know the work being done there?"), Of the post-Messi era ("He talks a lot about Barça after Messi and of the need to regenerate the workforce; that is something that is already being done and does not value it "), of their sports experience (" What sports experience do you have? What is the profile of the managers who will accompany you? Former athletes or technocrats? "), The finances of the club (" The Deloitte report just showed that he is lying about the finances of the club "), or the fact of being one of the shareholders of the newspaper Ara (" How is it going to influence the fact of being a partner of the Ara? Doubt the media independence ").

Bartomeu, during his speech at the newspaper awards, criticized " sensationalism ." And defended the "rigor".

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