Laporta: Barca have lied

Joan Laporta has accused the Barcelona hierarchy of ‘lying,’ adding that the support of fans has persuaded him to try to regain the club’s presidency.

Laporta was previously in office at Camp Nou from 2003-10 and will now rival current incumbent of the post Josep Bartomeu on 18 July.

However, in an interview with EFE, the 53-year-old admitted that he would have preferred to see somebody else challenge Bartomeu, putting his own candidature down to a lack of suitable alternatives.

“I was looking for reasons to not do it,” Laporta is quoted as saying by AS. “I hoped that someone honest and who presented a good project would emerge, with the character to be President of Barcelona.

“I hoped someone who was valiant and prudent when it was necessary, and with a feeling of responsibility, would come through, but I didn’t see anyone.

“Seeing as this person did not show themselves, I thought that I should return to do it.”

Laporta also revealed that many Blaugrana fans, despite his absence from the presidency since 2010, had approached him to say ‘Thank you and come back. Come back and fix it.’

“One of the things that convinced me to take this step was assessing this: that several years have passed and there are a lot of people who have continued to give me support.

“Despite winning the treble, there is something within these recent directors which means they have not known how to touch the hearts of the Catalans, because they have lied.

“And lying has had the consequences of Barcelona coming under investigation for corruption and tax fraud.”

Tags Laporta
La Liga - Club News