Barcelona and their senior players are furious when a story wrongly ascribed significantly high incomes to several key members of the squad, prompting Gerard Pique to join the Blaugrana in denying these accusations.
Pique’s Reaction
Pique, Sergio Busquets, and Jordi Alba were the three players that received the most flak in the essay, with claims that they were paid far more than they were. Lluis Canut revealed the information on TV3, however, the club has now formally disputed his allegations.
“People like [Canut] charging public television to go on and defend their friends,” Pique posted on Twitter.
“Here is 50 percent of my [base] pay, as paid on Dec. 30. Have a little respect for yourself.”
Pique’s response was accompanied by an attachment of a screenshot of his most recent online banking activity, which revealed that his base wage is currently roughly 2.3 million euros net.
Statement from Barcelona
Barcelona as a club also released a statement disputing Canut’s findings. The statement read: “In relation to comments made by Lluis Canut on TV3, Barcelona would like to clarify the following.”
1. The information on the salaries of certain first-team players has not, in any case, been provided by the club and the origin [of any leak] is unknown.
2. In any case, the amounts referred to in the information are erroneous and do not conform to reality. Furthermore, in the case of the first three players referred to [Pique, Busquets, and Alba], it gives fixed amounts which, as the sums involved are based on variables, will possibly never be reached.
3. It is also false that the aforementioned players have only deferred their salary. Pique, Busquets, and Alba gave up part of their salary when they signed contract renewals last summer.
“We consider it inappropriate, unprofessional and that [Canut] has acted in bad faith by offering this information as truthful. We regret that data of this type is provided because it infringes the personal rights of the players and deserves when the information is true confidentiality.”
