Did Bartomeu pay Atletico Madrid to shut up? Western media: There are two problems with Barcelona’s illegal contact with Gezi

October 16th, according to the Spanish media "El Mundo", Barcelona's transfer of Griezmann from Atletico Madrid in 2019 involved disloyal management and false statements, and the matter is being investigated by a judge.

Barcelona's Court of Investigation No. 32 recently filed charges against Bartomeu and some of his executives. A ruling obtained by "Le Monde" stated: "Barcelona's signing of Griezmann must be investigated."

The judge recalled: "Barcelona allegedly negotiated with a player whose contract is still in effect."

"Le Monde" previously published emails of secret negotiations.

The judge believed that Barcelona "violated FIFA regulations", which emphasize that "the club cannot contact athletes whose contracts are still in effect before communicating with the player's current club." The judge emphasized that "except for the last 6 months of the player's contract, which is not the case in this case."

The judge also added that Atletico Madrid "made a complaint to the Spanish Football Federation because there were important signs that Barcelona negotiated directly with Griezmann in February-March 2019." The ruling emphasized that this was a "technically prohibited date." "In order to avoid possible penalties from the Spanish Football Association, Bartomeu directly negotiated with Atletico Madrid and reached an agreement, agreeing to pay 1 5 million euros in exchange for the other party not to provide evidence in the investigation proceedings that have been initiated. "

The ruling also stated: "In order to give legitimacy to these payments, Bartomeu allegedly planned to acquire the right of first refusal for several young players from Atletico Madrid. The judge concluded that once the right-of-first-refusal contract was signed, "Atletico allegedly gave up providing evidence of the accusations against Barca to the Spanish Football Federation." These facts may constitute disloyal management and misrepresentation charges. "