Barcelona Are Developing A Stench Of Corruption

For years, Barcelona have stood above the rest as the gold standard for association football. Their players were loyal, many of whom came through the academy and played out their whole careers under the lights at Camp Nou. They also fed the Spanish National Team a surge to perfection over the last decade. And that doesn’t even begin to cover the consistent flash and brilliance of their play, as well as having some of the best to ever kick a ball putting on their shirt every week.

But right now, something appears to be rotten in the state of Catalan. Oh, the play is still just as magnificent, the players just as stellar and the results just as impressive, but there’s a subtle stench about the place. The most recent reeking culprit is Javier Mascherano, who has just been convicted of tax evasion for which he is sentenced but likely never to serve a year in prison. This verdict comes right on the heels of the acquittal of Lionel Messi for similar charges, a coincidence that leaves much to wonder at.

Beyond a failure to pay tax by some of Spain’s richest residence, long-serving captain and commander of the midfield Xavi Hernandez left the club last summer, lured by the promise of millions not from America or China or Australia, but from the reprehensible regime in Qatar. While he denies any connection to politics, Xavi cannot help but add legitimacy to such practices by playing in stadiums built by slave labor and bringing fans and positive attention to a repressive regime.

Far less malignant but no less cynical was the luring of Luis Suarez from Liverpool in 2014 after his most recent biting incident. While he’s avoided any such high profile incidents since, that hasn’t kept him out of trouble. In fact, he’s only just coming back from a suspension for taunting and provoking a fight with players from Espanyol in a recent match.

These are, of course, just players, and every club will see its share of bad apples (although Barca seems to have had more than their fair share in their recent bunches), but the stench doesn’t end there. Indeed, the club has only just come off a transfer ban by FIFA for skirting the rules in signing underage players, an offense league rivals Real Madrid are about to suffer for as well. There are also rumors of financial indiscretions in the signing of Messi’s understudy, Neymar.

It all ends up casting quite an odor over a team that was once almost impossible to root against. For so long a symbol of freedom, free play and the beauty of the game, Barcelona risks turning into a putrid, corrupt club, attracting the sort of players or encouraging the sort of unethical action that makes a team unlikable regardless of the style on display on the pitch.

If Barca aren’t careful, they may lose their reputation as one of the good guys of the sporting world. At some point, the smell at Camp Nou will be just too ripe to ignore anymore.