This article contains adult content that may be inappropriate for minors. Please confirm that you are 18 years or older to continue. This article contains images or details that some readers may find disturbing. Reader discretion is advised. Lionel Messi left Camp Nou in 2021 to join PSG, and in a back-and-forth of accusations regarding who was responsible for the financial situation that led to his departure on a free transfer, former Barcelona president Josep Maria Bartomeu pointed the finger at the current leader of the blaugrana. "If they had done what they were supposed to, it would have been absolutely possible to renew Messi's contract and make signings," he argued in an interview with the newspaper ARA, rejecting accusations of financial mismanagement. "The blame was not on the inheritance, but on financial fair play, because the new management inflated the losses to 555 million euros. When La Liga received this data, they decided to conduct a second audit and concluded that the losses were not as declared, as there were provisions amounting to 283 million euros. But Barcelona decided to maintain its proposal, La Liga enforced the rules, and the club suffered a penalty in financial fair play, from which it has not yet recovered," he added.
Lionel Messi Camp Nou remains central to this story.
Lionel Messi Camp Nou remains central to this story.
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