An audit of Barcelona’s appointments with I3 Ventures suggested that the club had not conducted a smear crusade against third parties.
Barca’s agreement with the public corporation I3 Ventures came under scrutiny in February following claims that the corporation had been hired to hide the symbol of the club’s president, Josep Maria Bartomeu, on social media and denigrate current and former players who criticized his regime.
Barca and I3 Ventures denied the allegations and a post-audit report through PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) found that the club had conducted “any smear campaign” against an individual.
Summarizing the findings of the report on its official website, Barca has written that “the outsourcing of facilities similar to the monitoring and investigation of social networks by FC Barcelona did not come with any defamatory crusade against third parties”.
PwC also did not discover evidence of corrupt monetary conduct and we decided that the value paid through the Barca I3 Ventures facility was “in the market range.”
In response to the report’s findings, the Barca has said: “The board of directors instructs the club’s courts to process and, where appropriate, bring legal proceedings against those who have made false and unfounded accusations that have severely broken the symbol of the establishment and those who are part of it.
“The content of this report and its conclusions will also be highlighted in the proceedings against the Club based on alleged conduct that this document clarifies and belies.”