Barcelona President Joan Laporta fired shots at a number of rivals on Monday as he defended the club from accusations of corruption, but UEFA President Aleksander Ceferin was not among the collateral damge.
In contrast to Real Madrid and La Liga President Javier Tebas, Laporta offered an olive branch to UEFA President Aleksander Ceferin, even though the Slovenian declared it one of the most serious situations he had seen.
“UEFA has not joined this public lynching and I am convinced that this [sanctions] will not occur. It would be an unprecedented event with a club of the level of Barca. UEFA knows that hypotheses that are not real are being validated. And beyond the fact that we have some discrepancies, Mr. Ceferin is also acting prudently and responsibly.”
However Diario AS say that UEFA are unlikely to be deterred in rapidly seeking the course of justice this summer. The European body will not go through the Discipline and Ethics Committee to hand out a punishment should their investigation find evidence that Barcelona tried to influence matches.
They will do so to speed the process up, going instead straight to the Appeals Committee. Barcelona would then be able to appeal to both the Discipline and Ethics Committee, as well as the Court of Arbitration for Sport, but the Blaugrana would face a summer of uncertainty, with the impact on income likely to be significant if they are banned.
Laporta was clearly keen not to further rough up their relationship with UEFA and Ceferin further, knowing that expulsion from Europe could be disastrous. It could also have a major impact on the clubs below them, as fifth-place would then get into the Champions League if Barcelona were banned.