Barcelona: He lied to me, Messi, I’m angry with him – Pique slams Bartomeu

Barcelona defender, Gerard Pique, has slammed the club’s former president, Josep Maria Bartomeu.

Pique accused Bartomeu, who occupied the Barcelona boardroom at Camp Nou for over six years, of lying to him and Lionel Messi, who now plays for Paris Saint-Germain, over the infamous ‘Barcagate’ scandal.

Recall that it was alleged during the spring of 2020 that a PR company hired by Barcelona to manage its reputation had been encouraged to paint a more positive picture of those behind the scenes while criticizing the club’s icons on the field such as Messi, Xavi and Pique.

Bartomeu, who was forced from office in 2020, claimed to have no knowledge of what was going on.

But it later emerged that Bartomeu had been pulling certain strings and those that had sought to defend him in public were made to look foolish.

Speaking on the development, Pique told YouTube star Jordi Wild of his regrets: “Why am I angry with Bartomeu? Because he lied to me about Barcagate, when the club hired services to criticise players, as he told Lionel Messi and me to our faces that he did not know anything about it.

“We told him that we accepted that and we expected him to take the appropriate measures. Only then I found out that he did know.

“For him to lie to my face on such a serious matter, I looked like an imbecile by defending him.”