Newly leaked messages from FC Barcelona’s former board reveal unprecedented attacks against Lionel Messi, the club’s star player at the time.
The most inflammatory of all come from Román Gómez Ponti, the head of the club’s legal department. In a message to former club president Josep Maria Bartomeu, he labels Messi a “sewer rat,” a “hormonal dwarf,” and a “money grubber.”
Gerard Piqué, who has since retired, and Sergio Busquets, the current captain, are also targeted in the conversation.
The messages are from the 31st of January 2021, and are reaction to an article in El Mundo which reveal Messi and Piqué’s contract details.