Ever since news first broke of Barcelona’s alleged relationship with Enriquez Negreira, former Vice President of the Technical Committee of Referees, the Catalan club has been defiant in its stance of having done no wrong.
As the club’s President, Joan Laporta has been at the forefront of the speculation surrounding Barcelona, which has infuriated club officials. As such, they have moved quickly to strike down attention towards Laporta, as per an official statement, especially amid reports of the judge in the ongoing case questioning the Barcelona President’s ethics.
“Following the information published today on the interlocutory case of Court No.1, Barcelona wishes to recall that it appeared as a private prosecutor in the procedure opened by the well-known Caso Negreira in order to defend the entity from a potential crime of unfair administration in the period investigated.
“Barcelona states again that, for years, it had technical advisory services for refereeing and players, and has material proving its existence and reality. All this material aimed at improving the preparation of the matches of the professional football teams was satisfied in invoices paid to the company supplying the services and, the part of material that is preserved, has recently been delivered in the Court that leads the investigation.
“We regret that the order notified yesterday contains opinions and value judgments questioning the ethics of President Joan Laporta when:
1) It is Barcelona who has appeared in the proceedings and is investigated – not its current president
2) It is the club that holds the right of defence in the procedure
3) In its case, the club could also be an injured party
“It should also be remembered that the case is in the investigation phase and that the personal judgments included in the order have only generated a state of confusion in public and published opinion that, surely unintentionally, has caused serious damage to the image of the Club and its President.”
Barcelona are disappointed with the accusations and attention levelled at Laporta, who continues to fight the club’s corner in the public sphere.
