Pique's role in Griezmann documentary sparks controversy

The Barcelona defender is an investor in production company Kosmos Studios which made the documentary 'The Decision', released on Thursday, in which the French striker, who had not told the Barca management, announced he was staying at Atletico Madrid.

The documentary could cause Barcelona other problems. It showed negotiations between Griezmann and the Catalan club. Unless Atletico gave explicit permission for the contact, the Madrid club could make a formal complaint.

Before the documentary was shown on a Spanish pay-per-view service, Pique even did a little promotion, tweeting an emoji of popcorn with the words "ready to watch 'The Decision' tonight."

While some Barcelona fans and media focused on president Josep Maria Bartomeu's failure to land the club's top summer target, most took aim at Griezmann or Pique.

Sergi Sole, a columnist for Barcelona newspaper 'Mundo Deportivo', criticised Pique for "eating popcorn to watch a negative result that, having participated in the documentary, he must have known."

The controversy recalled Pique's acknowledgement after Neymar left for Paris Saint-Germain last summer, that he knew the Brazilian was going but did not communicate it to the board, who believed Neymar was staying.

Pique finished a series of tweets on the documentary on Thursday night by taking aim at the Barcelona media who had been reporting that Griezmann's arrival was a done deal. 

"The most important lesson of 'The Decision' is that, sometimes, not everything they sell you is true," Pique wrote.

Businessman Victor Font, who has just announced he will run in the 2021 election for club president, demanded increased control of players to ensure "they cannot directly handle communications that affect the interests of Barcelona without the knowledge of the club."