Barcelona defender Gerard Pique has vowed to start a media outlet to give players a voice in the wake of recent photos published of him talking to police.
Pique, 30, was photographed while pulled over in his car on a busy road in Catalunya on Friday, prompting some outlets to claim the traffic stop was due to reckless driving and speeding.
However, the Spain international and World Cup winner denied the allegations, taking to his Twitter account to express, in a series of posts, his annoyance with what he deems constant mischaracterizations in parts of the media.
Ahora os explicaré como funciona gran parte de la prensa hoy en día:
1. Un paparazzi te hace una foto hablando con los Mossos d'Esquadra.- Gerard Piqué (@3gerardpique) May 20, 2017
2. El paparazzi se inventa que iba a 190km/h y que me sacaron 6 puntos de carnet para poder vender las fotos por 1.500 euros. Todo mentira.
- Gerard Piqué (@3gerardpique) May 20, 2017
3. Un medio inglés compra las fotos sin importarle la veracidad de la historia.
- Gerard Piqué (@3gerardpique) May 20, 2017
4. La mayoria de medios de este país difunden la notícia sin corroborar la información. Todo para obtener más clicks.
- Gerard Piqué (@3gerardpique) May 20, 2017
5. El daño ya está hecho y nadie hace nada para cambiar esta dinámica.
- Gerard Piqué (@3gerardpique) May 20, 2017
6. Mi objetivo en los próximos meses es crear un medio de comunicación que sea diferente, veraz, auténtico y de los jugadores. Estoy harto.
- Gerard Piqué (@3gerardpique) May 20, 2017
"I will now explain to you how the majority of the press works these days," Pique wrote.
"1. A paparazzi [sic] takes a photo of you talking with the Mossos d'Esquadra [Catalan police force].
"2. The paparazzi makes it up that I was doing 190km/h and that I got six points on my licence in order to sell photos for 1,500 euros. All false.
"3. An English site buys the photos without taking into account the truth of the story.
"4. The majority of the sites of this country publish the news without corroborating the information. All in order to get more clicks.
"5. The damage has already been done and nobody does anything to change this dynamic.
"6. My objective in the coming months is to create a means of communication that is different, true, authentic and for the players. I'm fed up."