Former Barcelona President hoping to establish truce over El Caso Negreira – “We have to make a clean slate”

Since El Caso Negreira first broke in February, there has been a widening chasm between Joan Laporta and his predecessors, Sandro Rosell and Josep Maria Bartomeu, despite all three maintain that Barcelona did not break any rules during their relationship with Enriquez Negreira.

At least in the case of Bartomeu, he hopes that they can come together in the very near future to establish a truce, one that he hopes will help the club in its defence (via Sport).

“I would be delighted to meet with the two of them. I’m all for it, any day they want. For the good of Barcelona, we have to make a clean slate and the three of us need to talk. I have no problem (with that).”

Bartomeu also refuted the charges of bribery levelled against Barcelona. Through a letter issued by his lawyer (via Sport), he cited multiple reasons as to why the club is innocent.

“The Resolution that we challenged before the Provincial Court has ,as its main objective, to change the orientation of the process in the so-called ‘Negreira case’, going from the circumstantial classification so far followed (crime of corruption in sport) to that of the crime of bribery. ”

“The Order does not specify the reasons why. The Magistrate Instructor decides that change but it can be assumed that it is due to the null result of the investigation, aimed at demonstrating that some referees were influenced by Mr. Enriquez, following a plan concocted by himself and Barcelona.

“The only proven thing is that Mr. Enriquez was hired to advise and assess the football matches in which Barcelona participated. Everything that the contested decision says about the purpose of influencing referees who should intervene in matches is lost in a nebula of baseless opinions. That is the indisputable conclusion: there is no bribery because none of its elements, neither subjective nor objective, are present.”

Rosell, Bartomeu and Laporta all have their differences, of that there is absolutely no doubt, but they are all certain that Barcelona are not guilty. That much can be very clearly seen.