The former Barca handball star, who had previously been in charge of the club's football school scheme, has replaced Nacho Mestre as the most senior executive at Camp Nou after a meeting of board members.

Mestre, who is to continue in his role as general director, had requested more time to attend to personal concerns after spending 21 months as CEO.

"The board of directors has appointed Oscar Grau as the new CEO of FC Barcelona, after the current incumbent, Nacho Mestre, made a request to the president of the club to be given more time to care for personal matters," the club said in a statement.

"Grau, who thus becomes the club's senior executive, was until now the director of the FCBEscola soccer schools. His replacement will be announced shortly.

"Oscar Grau (Sabadell, 30/7/1964) is a graduate in Business Administration and Management and has an MBA from Esade, He played handball for FC Barcelona (1984-1995), and his number two shirt was withdrawn and is now on display in the Palau Blaugrana.

"Grau has extensive experience of sports management. Apart from the last year running the FCBEscolas, he also oversaw the Barcelona Pyrenees bid for the 2026 Winter Olympics and Paralympics and was manager of the Catalan Handball Federation (1999-2007) and the Catalan Sailing Federation (1995-1999).

"In 2015 he won the Best Professional Manager award presented by the Catalan Association of Sports Managers (ACDE).

"Nacho Mestre, who will continue as general director of the club, will be in charge of its corporate areas (human resources, finance, systems, operations, etc.) as well as the Foundation and the Social Area."