Barcelona football club has been sensationally 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.
The secrets reported to be held by Metodo 3 have been circulated by disgruntled former employees after the detective agency went out of business.
Spanish newspaper El Confidencial has reported that Barcelona asked detectives to follow Piqué in 2010 to check up on the amount of time he spent partying.
The Barcelona and Spain star was reportedly 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 on Tuesday saying it did not wish to comment 'because it has no documentary evidence that this ever happened and, as a result, we deny it.'
Shakira takes baby Milan to a Barcelona match to watch dad Gerald Piqué play
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.
Other major Spanish political parties are also alleged to have hired the agency, although they claim they never asked the firm to perform any illegal tasks for them. The agency's offices were raided by police last week.
Toni Freixa, spokesman for Barcelona's board of directors, spoke to Spanish newspaper Marca about the spying allegations on Monday.
He said: 'When we took charge in 2010 we knew over €3 million had been spent on security but we don't have a breakdown of the work done. Whilst we're not denying the information, we can't say it is true either.'
Star: Gerard Piqué, pictured here playing for Barcelona during a 'Clasico' match against fierce rivals Real Madrid - has become a key player for both club and country
Monitored: Former Barcelona stars Samuel Eto'o (left) and Deco (right) were also alleged to have been spied on
Worries: The club was allegedly worried about the social lives of stars including the Brazilian, Ronaldinho
