Spanish police have reportedly arrested Barcelona's former president and raided the club's stadium amid an investigation into 'Barcagate'

• Spanish police have arrested FC Barcelona's former president Josep Maria Bartomeu, reports El Pais.
• The arrest is reportedly in connection to last year's "Barcagate" scandal.
• Police also entered the club's stadium on Monday to conduct a search and seize operation.

Spanish police have arrested FC Barcelona's former president Josep Maria Bartomeu, reports Spanish newspaper El Pais.

The newspaper says the arrest is in connection to last year's "Barcagate" scandal, in which club officials were accused of launching a smear campaign against current and former players who were critical of Bartomeu during his tenure.

Barcelona's current CEO Óscar Grau, its head of legal services Román Gómez Pontí, and Bartomeu's former advisor Jaume Masferrer have also been arrested, El Pais.

In addition, police also entered the club's stadium, the Camp Nou, on Monday to conduct a search and seize operation.

Catalan police have, per the BBC, confirmed both the search and having made a number of arrests, though no names of anyone involved were released. No charges have been reported at this moment.

In February 2020, Radio station SER Catalunya reported that Barcelona had paid a firm called I3 Ventures over $1 million to create fake accounts on Facebook and Twitter and attack Lionel Messi, Gerard Pique, and a host of ex-players and managers.

Barcelona acknowledged a relationship with I3 Ventures as a service provider, but denied it had any relation to the fake accounts.

Bartomeu, who first took over as Barcelona president in 2014, resigned in October 2020 along with the rest of the club's board of directors.

His decision to step down came just weeks before he was expected to be ousted by a vote of no confidence from the club's members.

The 58-year-old had publicly fallen out with star player Lionel Messi, which resulted in the Argentine almost leaving the Camp Nou in the summer.

Bartomeu was also heavily criticized for his treatment of the club's academy, La Masia, and his transfer policies, which involved splashing out large fees for a number of players on buy now, pay later deals.

Barcelona's latest financial reports, which were published in January, revealed it to be in $1.4 billion worth of debt, $237 million of which is owed to other teams for unpaid transfers.

The club will appoint Bartomeu's replacement on March 7 when Toni Freixa, Joan Laporta, and Victor Font compete in the presidential election.