What does Barca's latest crisis mean for president & his row with Messi?

Barcelona have stumbled from one crisis to another recently.

On Wednesday night, with Lionel Messi still silent on his future, the current board were at the centre of a corruption allegation in El Mundo.

Sportsmail looks at the latest legal tangle to threaten to entwine the club.

What is the accusation and who is doing the accusing.

According to Spanish newspaper El Mundo the Catalan police force have filed a report to the judge investigating Barcelona’s hiring of social media consultancy I3 Ventures, and the report, according to El Mundo, suggests ‘possible economic crimes’.

Remind us of the I3 case…

Last February Cadena Ser reported that a company hired to monitor Barcelona's presence on social media was linked to a series of social media accounts that ran negative stories about club figures who were in potential opposition to president Josep Bartomeu. One of the stories referred to Lionel Messi’s wife Antonella.

Sounds scandalous

Well when you looked at the actual stories they were very tame. Most of them were not even negative. And a subsequent investigation by audit company PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC) ruled that Barcelona had NOT commissioned I3 Ventures to run a smear campaign against important club figures.

So the Barcelona board were in the clear?

Well there was always more to the story than just the eventually dismissed link between the web company employed by Barcelona and these other accounts. There was a suggestion that Barcelona had paid over the odds for I3 Ventures' service.

It was striking that the payments to the company were broken down into amounts of less than €200,000 meaning they evaded the club's internal checking mechanism.

Six board members quit at the time, including Emili Rousaud who made the startling statement to Catalan radio RAC1: ‘I think someone has had their hand in the till, although I don't know who. You pay €1m [to I3 Ventures] for a job that has a market price of €100,000. I don't know who it was, but I can have an idea, although I don't think it was someone on the board.’

Very serious claims…

Very, and he later said he regretted the phrase. Barcelona strongly refuted the claims and threatened Rousaud with legal action. ‘FC Barcelona categorically denies any activity that can be described as corruption, therefore, reserves the right to any legal action that may correspond,’ the club’s statement read.

But there was an investigation?

Yes an investigation is ongoing and according to El Mundo police have passed a report to the investigating judge saying that Barcelona could have paid up to six-times the going rate for I3 Ventures’ services.

Which does not in itself constitute wrongdoing?

No, absolutely not. It would have to be proven that they did so for personal gain.

What has Barcelona’s reaction been?

So far they have not made a statement but are said to be surprised by the El Mundo story and shocked at the severity of the claim.

Did their audit not also deem that the price they paid to I3 Ventures was fair?

Yes the audit concluded that they did not pay over the market price for the services of I3 Ventures but as you say it was 'their' audit. Included in the El Mundo story on Friday was the suggestion that the police report handed to the judge also argues that an audit commissioned by an interested party can not be conclusive. When the allegations first surfaced in February, I3 Ventures said: ‘We wish to state for the record that the allegations are absolutely false.’

What happens now?

The investigating judge will have to decide whether or not to act on the report and investigate further.

What does it mean now that Messi is staying?

It could weaken the position of the president if it is taken further. And what weakens the president strengthens Messi’s hand.

But it doesn’t really change the fact that Bartomeu is standing down next March when elections will be held.

And it doesn't change the fact that it is not really practical in terms of time and logistics for there to be a vote of no confidence that would bring those elections forward.