It’s set to be a very big week in Barcelona.
On Tuesday, it’s expected that current club president, Joan Laporta, and his board will set out their findings on any irregularities found by their Financial Due Diligence on the previous president, Josep Maria Bartomeu, and his board.
A statement on the official Barcelona website indicates that this will take place from 11am CET.
Though there has never been any admission of wrongdoing by Bartomeu, the stench of corruption was always in the background during his presidency thanks to his association with the deposed former president, Sandro Rosell, imprisoned for two years after leaving office.
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Yahoo have cited an AFP report which has noted Bartomeu and his board are now being investigated by the Prosecutor’s Office.
It comes as a result of a complaint filed last Wednesday by Laporta and his board.
What seems abundantly clear at this point is that Bartomeu will admit to nothing and try and wriggle out of everything.
However, that’s not going to wash.
During his presidency, the club turned a healthy balance sheet into one where the club found themselves over a billion euros in debt.
That doesn’t happen unless there has been serious financial mismanagement.
Covid could be seen to be partly to blame of course, but many other elite clubs have ridden the storm perfectly well.
Barcelona, on the other hand, were said to be almost bankrupt once Laporta had taken the reins.
The outcome of the Prosecutor’s findings will surely shape the next few years of the club’s existence.