Barçagate: Masferrer suspended from duties with Barca's board of directors

Barcelona president Josep Maria Bartomeu is experiencing his worst moment in charge of the club since January 2015, when he was forced to bring forward elections due to a clash between Leo Messi and Luis Enrique. Sporting director Andoni Zubizarreta was also sacked at the time. Barça went on to win the treble and Bartomeu won the elections. 

This time, the crisis is institutional. After the firing of Ernesto Valverde and the clash between Messi and Eric Abidal, the club have now been accused of hiring a third-party to dirty the name of players, club legends and club members, while defending the image of Bartomeu. 

The board met on Friday in a tense meeting but at no moments was Bartomeu asked to resign. Little by little, the tension lifted and the atmosphere improved. 

However, a number of measures were making. Jaume Masferrer, an adviser to Bartomeu, was suspended from his duties. He has been singled out as the person responsible for the relationship with I3 Ventues, the company that was contracted, Barça say, to monitor social media. However, it was revealed this week they were also behind the critical social media accounts. Barça insist they had no idea. 

There was also calls for an election to be brought forward to this summer. It is scheduled for 2021 as things stand. 

Meanwhile, the club have called for an external company to investigate the I3 relationship and have agreed to meet again on Thursday to discuss the next step.