Barçagate: what Josep María Bartomeu paid to lobby against Lionel Messi

The world of FC Barcelona was shaken to its core when it was revealed earlier today that former club chairman Josep María Bartomeu had been arrested by the Catalan police, just four years after resigning from his post.

Bartomeu was charged alongside CEO Óscar Grau, director of legal department Romà Gómez and former adviser Jaume Masferrer with unfair administration and corruption during their stint at the club, related to the hiring of companies that seeked to enhance the reputation of his tenure in detriment of his political adversaries and even members of the playing squad, chief among them Lionel Messi.

The extent of Bartomeu's investment into this smear campaign has now been revealed by Filippo Ricci, Spain correspondent for Gazzetta dello Sport, who claims Barcelona paid a total of 3.5 million euros to three digital marketing companies over the course of three years.

These payments were spread across three years, with six annual invoices of 199,000 euros each, to firms in Argentina, Uruguay and Spain, with Catalan data analysts i3 Ventures being the one with the most direct contact with Bartomeu through his relationship with stockholder Carlos Rafael Ibáñez.

Who were the main targets of Barçagate?

Alongside Messi and his family, with a particular focus on his wife Antonela Roccuzzo, Bartomeu also seeked to target his teammate Gerard Piqué, who was also outspoken about his disagreements with the former Barcelona chairman and was said to have an "entrepreneur facet", and main political rival Joan Laporta, whom Messi supports after running for chairman at the most recent club elections.