Barcelona spokesman Josep Vives said on Tuesday about the criteria for the use of video arbitration (VAR) that “lack fairness” and that “it has benefited a team” and has harmed “others”, without citing any names.
Vives abounded this Tuesday in the message released by the president of the entity, Josep Maria Bartomeu, who after 1-4 against Villarreal said: «The VAR is not giving the size that we all wanted. Since the post-confinement has passed there have been many games that have not been fair and have favored it, and many teams have been disadvantaged.
The spokesman commented that Bartomeu expressed himself “clearly and seriously” in this regard. “No one can doubt the leadership role with the VAR. It was necessary for the overall result to be better and to help the referees. No one questions the tool, but the application of the criteria needs to be improved. Nobody can think that it is a campaign, it just verified some facts, “he said.
On the other hand, the conclusions of the external audit carried out by PriceWaterHouseCoopers (PwC) as a result of the ‘Barçagate’ rule out that it had been contracted by the Barcelona board of directors “no smear campaign against anyone”, according to Josep Vives announced.
The ‘Barçagate’ refers to the case in which a company hired by the club allegedly carried out a smear campaign on individuals and entities not related to Josep Maria Bartomeu’s board of directors.
Vives commented that “no evidence” or “any corrupt conduct or economic benefit” was detected in the case, as well as that the works ordered were “within the market price”.
The club urges its legal services to take the pertinent legal actions in the face of the accusations made and will demand rectifications from the media. In addition, it will forward a petition to the prosecution to investigate the responsibilities against the authors of tweets against the club, the players and their environment.
In addition Vives reported that the audit has detected that “the internal protocols of the club in the formalization and renewal of new contracts were not followed.”
But he pointed out: “The entire board of directors had been informed of the order of the service in the ordinary meetings of October 5 and 6, 2018 and in that of June 17, 2019”.
On the other hand, the 320-page PwC report calls on the supplier companies to complete the pending services, which rise to 620,000 euros.
Ramón Gómez Ponti, the head of the club’s legal services, stated: «The internal audit on this matter carried out by Noelia Romero, the ‘compliance officer’, is false. She interviewed me and she is not. The compliance report has not had access to even five percent of the information from the Pwc audit.
Gómez Ponti also pointed to Emili Rousaud, the resigned institutional vice president, who hinted that someone from within the club could have ‘reached into the box’ on the ‘Barçagate’ issue in an interview on RAC 1. “The measures will be taken. timely legal regarding people who have said things like this, “he said.
Finally, the head of the club’s legal services announced that the club “will exercise civil and criminal actions against the alleged perpetrator of an alleged extortion of Jaume Masferrer”, the director of the Presidency area who was suspended from office and salary as consequence of ‘Barçagate’ and who today is still in the same situation.
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