LONDON, England, February 27- Barcelona football club has been accused of spying on its star defender Gerard Piqué because they were worried about his relationship with the Colombian pop star Shakira.
Former employees of the detective agency Metodo 3, claim they followed the defender on the orders of the Catalan club which allegedly feared Piqué’s romance with Shakira could affect his performances on the pitch.
It is rumoured that Metodo 3 – which is now defunct – also spied on other Barcelona stars such as Samuel Eto’o, Ronaldinho and Deco in the past.
According to Spanish newspaper El Confidencial, ex-Barcelona manager Josep Guardiola hired the agency to spy on several of his players between 2008 and 2012.
The secrets reported to be held by Metodo 3 have been circulated by disgruntled former employees after the detective agency went out of business.
El Confidencial has reported that Barcelona asked detectives to follow Piqué in 2010 to check up on the amount of time he spent partying.
It says the Barcelona and Spain star was trailed after going to a pop concert in Barcelona, with detectives allegedly logging how many drinks he had.
El Confidencial claimed the player eventually noticed that he was being followed, but that the club told him it was the tabloid press.
A spokesman for FC Barcelona, which is one of the world’s most successful clubs, issued a statement saying it did not wish to comment ‘because it has no documentary evidence that this ever happened and, as a result, we deny it.’ Barcelona FC’s former head of security Xavier Martorell – who is now head of Catalonia’s prison service has reportedly admitted to hiring the agency to do work for a Spanish political party.
-Daily Mail
