La Liga
LIONEL MESSI IN SOCIAL MEDIA ROW
Lionel Messi on Wednesday (Feb 19) said it was “strange” to see Barcelona locked in a row over a company accused of criticising current and former players, including himself, on social media.
Barcelona president Josep Maria Bartomeu said on Tuesday the club had terminated its contract with public relations company I3 Ventures, which had been hired to improve the image of Bartomeu and the club’s board online.
According to Spanish radio station Cadena Ser Catalunya, the company oversaw “dozens” of accounts attacking the likes of Messi, Gerard Pique, Xavi Hernandez, Pep Guardiola and Carles Puyol on Facebook and Twitter.
Among the messages the report cited is one expressing anger towards Messi for his delay in signing a new contract and another questioning Pique’s involvement in tennis’ Davis Cup.
“The truth is that I find it strange that something like this happens,” Messi said in an interview to be published on Thursday by Catalan newspaper Mundo Deportivo.
“But they also said that there would be evidence. We will have to wait to see if it is true or not. We cannot say much and wait to see what happens with all this. It seems a strange issue,” added the Barca captain.
Bartomeu has met senior players, including Messi, to explain the case.
“The president told us the same thing he said publicly, the same thing he said at the press conference. What was the situation, what had happened. I can’t say much more,” Messi said.
In a statement on Monday, Barcelona denied that the club was behind the messages and Bartomeu reiterated that stance on Tuesday.
“Barca has never hired a service to discredit anyone,” he said. “Not a player, not a former player, nor any politician, manager, president or former president.”
He added: “That is flatly false. We will defend ourselves where necessary on this issue, by all means.”
Barcelona had already threatened legal action against any media organisations that “continue to implicate the club in this type of practice”.
“Let one thing be clear,” Bartomeu continued. “To the question: Have we commissioned the monitoring of social networks? The answer is yes.
“To the question: Have we commissioned to discredit people or institutions through social networks? The answer is no and we will take action against all those who accuse us of that.”
The controversy increases the pressure on Bartomeu and the Barcelona board ahead of presidential elections due next year, and following a period of political turmoil at the club.
The board were clumsy in their sacking of coach Ernesto Valverde last month, when an approach to Xavi Hernandez was leaked while Valverde was still in the post.
And two weeks ago, Messi engaged in a public spat with the club’s technical secretary Eric Abidal, who claimed the players were the main cause of Valverde’s removal.
The timing of this latest controversy is also a potential distraction ahead of a crucial week for the team.
Barcelona play Eibar at home in La Liga on Saturday before facing Napoli away in the Champions League and then Real Madrid in the league at the Santiago Bernabeu.
–AFP
It was mission accomplished, said Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti after his side fought back from two-goals behind to snatch a rip-roaring 4-4 draw on Tuesday for a 5-4 aggregate win that put them through to the Copa del Rey final.
Ancelotti brushed off questions about a sub-par performance by his side and praised his players’ effort in what he considered a highly entertaining encounter.
“We have achieved our goal today which was to reach the final and there is not much time to think about it,” Ancelotti told a press conference.
“It was an entertaining game with some mistakes and a lot of good things. It was fun and we are in the final.
“I never saw ourselves out of it because anything can happen at the Bernabeu. When we have to come from behind, we never give up. We never give up, especially at home, with the fans by our side.”
Ancelotti said David Alaba was not to blame after he deflected two balls into his own goal, calling it “bad luck” by the Austrian defender, but urged his defence to play with better focus moving forward.
“It’s not good to concede four goals in a game,” Ancelotti said.
“Right now we are a team that has a lot of effectiveness up-front, but little balance.
“However, we can’t ignore what we did in attack, scoring four goals against Real is not that easy. I think we are doing quite well.”
Real Madrid, who have won the Spanish Cup only once in over a decade, will play either Barcelona or Atletico Madrid in a mouth-watering final in Seville next month.
Atletico fought back to hold Barca to a thrilling 4-4 draw ahead of Wednesday’s second-leg in Madrid.
-Reuters
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Real Madrid’s legendary coach Carlo Ancelotti will go on trial next week for allegedly failing to declare income to Spain’s tax office, the Madrid court which will hear the case has said.
Prosecutors are seeking a jail term of four years and nine months for the 65-year-old Italian, accusing him of having cost Spain’s treasury more than one million euros ($1.1 million) in undeclared earnings from image rights in 2014 and 2015.
The trial will begin on Wednesday and it is expected to last two days, a spokesman for the court said.
Ancelotti, who as a coach has won a record five Champions League trophies including three with Real, must be present for the hearings, he added.
Prosecutors accuse him of only declaring in his tax returns the personal remuneration received from Real Madrid during those two years even though he himself declared himself to be a tax resident in Spain and indicated his home was in Madrid.
They accuse Ancelotti of allegedly setting up a “confusing” and “complex” system of shell companies to hide his extra earnings from his image rights as well as from other sources such as real estate.
A Spanish court in 2023 ordered Ancelotti to stand trial over the affair, but did not set a date.
Ancelotti dismissed the affair last year as “an old story that I hope will be resolved soon” when he was asked about the case.
He took over at Real Madrid in 2013, leaving in May 2015, before being appointed at Bayern Munich the following year.
The former Italy international midfielder, who as a player won the European Cup twice with AC Milan, later managed Napoli and Everton before returning to Real Madrid in 2021.
Aside from his success in the Champions League he has won domestic league titles with Madrid and Milan, in England with Chelsea, in Germany with Bayern Munich and in France with Paris Saint-Germain.
-AFP
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Spain’s former soccer chief Luis Rubiales told Reuters on Thursday he would appeal a court ruling which found him guilty of sexual assault for kissing player Jenni Hermoso without her consent.-
-Reuters
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