Guardiola & Co. attacked the club, 'Barcagate' was a damage control operation - I3 Ventures owner

Barcelona's alleged online barrage against former club figures such as Pep Guardiola and Joan Laporta was a damage control operation in order to "protect" the club's prestige from attacks by those individuals, claims I3 Ventures owner Carlos Ibanez.

The Blaugrana remain embroiled in a long-running scandal, dubbed "Barcagate", with former president Josep Maria Bartomeu said to have hired I3 in a bid to hit back at criticism involving how poorly the club was being run under his watch.

Ibanez, currently facing trial on corruption charges, has now provided further context as to what he helped deliver for the disgraced ex-supremo at Camp Nou, who was arrested in March over connections with the case.

What has been said?

Asked in court why focus was given to figures such as Guardiola and Laporta, among others, Ibanez indicated that it was a protective measure for the club rather that one intended to deface the individuals in question, arguing: "It has to do not with improving Barca's prestige, but with protecting it from harm.

"All the people you mention attacked Barca and what we did was try to control the damage. We had to protect the institution from harm. If someone says that [former coach Ernesto] Valverde has to go because Guardiola is a soccer star, what one of these channels does is show that Pep Guardiola has not won any championship for three seasons.

"Does that discredit Guardiola? No. This is a reality, it is a fact. If you don't win championships, you don't win championships. Do not attack Valverde, who is part of our institution, saying that Guardiola is going to be the saviour when he does not actually win championships."

What is Barcagate?

Barcagate is the name given to the operation and subsequent exposure in 2020 of I3 Ventures' work for the club that began in 2017, when they were reportedly contacted by Bartomeu to help stave off negative criticism of the president's time at the helm.

Under Ibanez, the company ran a fleet of social media accounts that coordinated criticism upon various figures associated with the club, such as former player and manager Guardiola, ex-president Laporta and local media mogul Jaume Roures, among others.

The ostensible reason for the project was to protect Bartomeu through an apparent offensive strategy - though given the fallout that continued to endure under his watch, including an empty-handed 2019-20 campaign and Lionel Messi's push for the exit door, its success remained relatively limited in scope.

The bigger picture

Barcelona will continue to look to pull out of the stormy days of the Bartomeu era under Laporta, who returned for a second spell at the helm of the club in March this year.

They remain mired in financial trouble, however, with Lionel Messi out of contract and the club currently unable to re-sign him until they have balanced the books.

Though the Argentine - fresh from winning the Copa America - is believed to have agreed to a new deal on reduced terms in principle, it is yet to be confirmed as La Liga's new campaign looms on the near-horizon.