Construction firm request Barcelona be placed into bankruptcy

The firm are owed €3.5 million

A construction firm owed millions by FC Barcelona have requested that the club be placed into bankruptcy. According to Spanish newspaper Marca, Muro Cortina Modular Renting (MCM) have presented a claim to the Catalan business courts, requesting the club be declared bankrupt in order to regain the €3.5 million owed to them by the club for their work on the La Masia building. The debt goes back to 2010, during Sandro Rosell's presidency, when a contract was signed with a deadline set in 2017. Claims and counter claims have seen the dispute drag on and on. But with Barcelona finding themselves in financial dire straights right now, reportedly in danger of bankruptcy already if they don't clear €170m off their wage bill, MCM have demanded the courts take action. It is not a straightforward case. Marca report that MCM have already had one claim of contractual non-fulfilment thrown out by the courts, who made the firm pay the club as much as €900,000 in legal fees, which Barcelona claim they have not yet received. Barcelona also made a claim against MCM, citing structural damage in the work on the La Masia building. Josep Bartomeu and the rest of the Barcelona board recently resigned under ever increasing pressure to leave the club after six years at the helm. This was a small victory for Lionel Messi, who described his leadership as a disaster, but huge structural issues remain at the LaLiga club. MCM have asked the courts to appoint an administrator in place of their current board to oversee their dire finances, Marca report.