Former Barcelona president Joan Laporta claims president Josep Maria Bartomeu has lied to socios over the side's sponsorship agreement with Qatar and says the association with the oil-rich state is "an embarrassment" for the Catalan club.
Bartomeu (then vice-president) and former club chief Sandro Rosell unveiled a lucrative deal with Qatar when the pair succeeded Laporta at Barca in 2010 and Barca's shirts featured a sponsor in 2011-12 for the first time in the club's history.
That saw Qatar Foundation - and more recently Qatar Airways - replace charity Unicef on the front of Barca's jerseys, but the links with the south-west Asian nation have been criticised by socios and a number of key figures - including Laporta and fellow 2015 presidential candidate Agusti Benedito.
Despite those doubts and criticism of human rights in Qatar, Bartomeu is now pushing for a new shirt sponsorship deal for the 2016-17 season following his re-election in the summer and Laporta believes Barca's image is being damaged as a result.
"I am embarrassed by the presence of Qatar on the Barca shirt," he told French station RMC in an interview. "We have a president who is a liar. He lies when he speaks of Qatar, saying that Barca cannot survive without them. This isn't true.
"They (the current Barca directors) speak only about money. When I was president, we had no problems in maintaining the economic structure. They have special interests with Qatar."
