Barcelona president Josep Maria Bartomeu has stated that the club has never hired anyone to speak against any members of the club or team, adding that Barcelona have cut all ties with I3 Ventures, the company accused of doing so.
This Tuesday, the 14th Manuel Vázquez Montalbán International Journalism Prize was awarded and the Barcelona president Josep Maria Bartomeu was in attendance, which means he could not avoid questions surrounding the club's latest scandal.
The club President has categorically denied the hiring the services of the company to discredit players and damage the image of former footballers or even go against Víctor Font, one of the candidates for the presidency of Barcelona in the next elections.
"Barcelona has never hired these services to discredit anyone. This is categorically false and we will defend ourselves wherever necessary. I repeat, it is false that Barcelona has hired someone to discredit anyone," he said.
The president of the Catalan club did admit that the club hired I3 Ventures' services in 2017, but to monitor social networks and confirmed that the entity is already working on ending the relationship with the company.
"We did it as many and the vast majority of entities and corporations have to monitor social networks and we will continue to do so because it is the club's responsibility to know what is happening or what is being said. In view of the confirmation that one of the accounts linked to one of the supplier companies has made inappropriate comments in relation to people related to our organization, I myself have given the instructions to terminate the contract with this company," said Bartomeu.