Just in:The Former Barcelona president Josep Maria Bartomeu: siad “Letting Messi go a historic mistake”
Disgraced former Barcelona president Josep Maria Bartomeu has claimed that letting Lionel Messi leave the club in 2021 was a 'historic mistake'.
Bartomeu was forced to resign as the president of Barcelona after the Barçagate scandal came to light as part of which he and his board de él had hired a firm to discredit several current and former players.
Furthermore, recent evidence emerged which revealed the role of two of Bartomeu's former board members, Oscar Grau and Roman Gomez Ponti, in leaking the contract details of Messi as well as Gerard Pique.
Amidst this, Bartomeu has come forward and claimed that he had no role in the contract leaks and he had never authorized any such move.
“I want to clarify that I have not made any of these leaks, I have not authorized any of these leaks and I have had no prior knowledge of any leak,” Bartomeu said, as quoted by SPORT.
Bartomeu then criticized the current administration's inability to keep hold of Messi after his contract expired in 2021, stating that it was a huge mistake from the club.
I repeat what I have said publicly on different occasions: letting Leo Messi go, the best player in the history of soccer, has been a historic mistake,” said the former president.
The investigation into the Barçagate scandal also uncovered a series of text chains between Bartomeu and Ponti, who made disgusting remarks towards Messi.
And the former club president clarified that he believes in freedom of expression but did not share the views that were reflected in the messages from Ponti.
“These are messages made within the private sphere and I respect everyone’s freedom of expression, even if I have a different opinion,” he said.
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