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Daily Record
Daily Record
Sport
Liam Bryce

Former Barcelona president Josep Bartomeu 'arrested' as police raid club offices

Former Barcelona president Josep Bartomeu has been arrested, according to reports from Spain.

It's been claimed current Barca CEO Oscar Grau and legal chief Roman Gómez Ponti have also been arrested.

Officers raided the club's offices on Monday morning as part of a search and seizure operation.

It follows the 'BarcaGate' scandal in which club officials were accused of instigating an online offensive against those critical of the former regime.

Bartomeu and his board of directors resigned last year.

It was alleged they hired I3 Ventures to protect Bartomeu's reputation and attempt to smear the likes of Lionel Messi, Gerard Pique and former boss Pep Guardiola.

The club later confirmed a partnership with the company but denied using a number of social media accounts to tarnish the reputation of their critics.

The arrests come less than a week before the La Liga giants were due to host their presidential elections.

Victor Font, Joan Laporta and Toni Freia are on the final ballot for the historic vote.

Former president Laporta is favourite to retake the role.

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