Former police chief Jose Manuel Villarejo has accused current Barcelona President Joan Laporta of giving information to the police which would lead to the imprisonment of presidential rival Sandro Rosell for nearly two years.
Villarejo, who has spoken freely of a number of scandals, some founded and others not, claims that it was Laporta who supplied the authorities of Rosell money laundering. Rosell was initially one of Laporta’s board members during his first term (2003-08), but the pair fell out, leading to Rosell beating Laporta in the 2010 elections.
However before Rosell could complete his mandate, he was forced to resign after a money laundering scandal broke out. MD carried information from an interview with RAC1 featuring Villarejo, where he also says that someone close to Laporta filtered the information to the press. Rosell would end up spending nearly two years in prison before being acquitted of all charges.
Sport say that Laporta has characterised these assertions as ‘totally false’, and will take legal action against Villarejo, presumably for slander.
The divide between Laporta and Rosell has fractured Barcelona politically for much of the past two decades, with the hierarchy at the club and fans generally siding with one or the other.
