Josep Maria Bartomeu has suggested Barcelona are victims of a witch hunt as a result of their allegiance with Catalonia in relation to the Neymar controversy.
The President and his predecessor Sandro Rosell face tax probes following accusations La Blaugrana defrauded the Spanish government to the tune of €2.8m in the deal to take the former Santos forward to Camp Nou two years ago.
“That’s the big question, what is happening? Neymar had two offers, one each from Madrid and Barca,” he explained to 8TV on Tuesday, AS reports.
“Neymar was playing well a year ago and suddenly became the subject of the complaint. Maybe someone didn’t like this to be the case.
“Now he’s playing well again and there’s more legal action. A year ago, we hosted the Concert per la Libertat at Camp Nou and play with the Senyera [the Catalan flag] on our jerseys… maybe this hasn’t gone down well.
“I see a sporting and political agenda, but we’ll continue working to get to the bottom of the matter. My duty is to bring the matter to a close. We’re paying a political bill.
“Someone’s crossed the line and enough is enough. I’d do everything the same again. We haven’t committed any crimes and we’ll get to the bottom of it.
“We maintain that [Neymar] cost €57m. The prosecutor’s documents have different figures, but the important thing is that there are other teams with power who didn’t like him joining us.
“To investigate me, my business and my staff doesn’t seem normal, and that includes the players who are also suffering from inspections.
“At Barca, we’re being watched closely. We’re in the spotlight. There are branches of government which don’t like what’s happening in Barcelona. We’re being unfairly targeted as a result.
“[Our form] has improved since we announced the elections [in the summer]. People at the club are aspiring for the treble.
“We have to unite against attacks from outside. It’s not an attack on one person, it’s an attack against an entire institution.
“We believe we’re the best [club in the world] and must be proud of the players. Not having [Andoni Zubizarreta] around hasn’t affected our dialogue with the team. [A pact] has always existed.”
