Laporta’s allegations and what they mean for the club – The Athletic

Barcelona fans will by now be used to surprising revelations coming from the club.

Even so, Tuesday morning’s press conference at Camp Nou’s Auditori 1899 was a rant.

Club president Joan Laporta says an investigation into Barcelona’s finances has uncovered several large payments that were made without apparent justification during his predecessor Josep Maria Bartomeu’s tenure.

Laporta said proof of those payments was turned over to the provincial prosecutor’s office last week – and made it clear he believed crimes had been committed.

While taking care not to name anyone in particular, Laporta and other club figures who spoke said they felt they had uncovered clear evidence of wrongdoing which they expected the authorities take action.

Here we break down the key questions after the revelations…

Where does this proof come from?

Upon taking office in early 2021, Laporta’s board engaged Deloitte to conduct a due diligence study into Barcelona’s finances. It showed that the club had a debt of 1.173 billion euros and recorded a loss of 481 million euros in the last financial year. He also detected a series of unexplained operations, leading to the hiring of the specialized agency Kroll to carry out a forensic expertise.

“The investigation carried out by Deloitte revealed the existence of operations in a dubious financial sense in specific areas of expenditure which required further analysis,” read a statement from the Barcelona club.