Barcelona have been warned they could go bankrupt amid the coronavirus pandemic as the club’s erratic policy is also causing problems behind the scenes.
Six Barca board members resigned this week due to reservations over the direction the Spanish side is heading in.
This has followed talks with players over a possible 70 per cent pay cut as the club make attempts to reduce the economic impact of the coronavirus crisis on them.
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Barcelona in another crisis with six board members being forced to resign
One of those to resign was the man Barca president Josep Bartomeu had identified to take over from him in the role at next year’s election.
Bartomeu himself was at the middle of a reported scandal this year which has done more harm than good for his reputation, despite him denying the allegations.
It was claimed by radio station Que t’hi jugues in February that Bartomeu had hired PR firm 13 Ventures to clean up his image and damage that of other figures at the club – including Lionel Messi.
Another member of the staff to leave their post, vice-president Emili Rousaud, claimed “someone had the hand in the till” at the club – a statement the club again deny.
Now the leadership of the club has been criticised by presidential candidate Victor Font in an open letter.
The letter read: “If the risks were great, they have now become gigantic. We are in the midst of a pandemic that has brought the planet to a halt and will have effects in all walks of life, also in sport, that today we cannot yet foresee.
“Likewise, for months we have witnessed a shameful escalation of chapters in the club’s institutional behaviour in which the latest event hides the seriousness of the previous one, a process that culminated in recent days with accusations and serious reproaches among board members, and six abrupt resignations.
“And just as the only priority should be to get the club out of the crisis, the presidency announces a new remodelling of the board of directors in order to stay in power. What is at risk now is Barca as a whole.”
Bartomeu is being urged to bring forward next year’s election, in which the current club president cannot stand as a candidate.
