Joan Laporta Attacks Real Madrid and La Liga boss Tebas : FC Barcelona President Joan Laporta speaks at Barcelona’s press conference regarding the Negreira case as he slams Real Madrid and La Liga boss Javier Tebas.
Joan Laporta: “The Negreira case has not affected the board. In recent months we’ve suffered a terrible agenda.”
Joan Laporta: “The things that happened in the Negreira case happened long ago. They’ve not happened with the current board members. But we have started to reflect on it heavily because of the controversy it created.
Joan Laporta: “Barça are suffering a massive agenda against us with an intention to hurt our reputation. In 123 years, FC Barcelona have always been a reference in terms of fair play, on and off the pitch. We are proud to say that.”
Joan Laporta: “When we win at Barça, we all celebrate it. The club prides itself in our values. We like to win, but never unfairly.”
Joan Laporta: “They want to undermine our prestige, but they have never been able to do it, and they won’t do it now. They will not succeed in stopping Barça from being a role model for the footballing world.”
Laporta: “This media smear campaign was not a coincidence.”
Joan Laporta: “An external agency has analyzed every document we have on this Negreira case. Now I have the data for the other presidential terms, and I can confirm: Barça have never received external help to adulterate the competition.”
Joan Laporta: “FC Barcelona have never tried to influence refereeing. The justice system said it themselves. They couldn’t find evidence of the club buying referees, because it does not exist!”
Joan Laporta: “Another thing is that an individual or a group of people are trying to take advantage of this situation. We are the first ones that want this thing to be investigated to the fullest. In that case, Barça would be the victims.”
Joan Laporta: “I have documentation that proves that there have never been any payments that attempt to sway results in competitions.”
Joan Laporta: “629 reports, 43 videos. We still have all the technical refereeing reports. They exist, contrary to some people who said that these had disappeared.”
“Real Madrid have always been considered the royalty team, close to power. In the last seven decades, the executives in refereeing committees have always been club members or former board members at Real Madrid.”
Joan Laporta: “Accusations need to be proven in court. People have been speaking without a case. We live in a world without this right, the presumption of innocence. Barça never had it, and we have suffered a massive agenda from the media.”
Joan Laporta: “I demand all media outlets to take responsibility. The campaign that we have been suffering makes no sense. People have been very irresponsible.”
“There will be no problems with UEFA unless we are found guilty when the Spanish court ends. However, we will continue to compete normally in Europe, because we did not do anything illegal.”
Joan Laporta: “I want to point out that Javier Tebas has been very irresponsible, unwise, and blatantly unaccountable. I urge him to stop spreading his theories, which reached a point of him sending false evidence. His irresponsibility only hurts La Liga.”
Joan Laporta: “I thank Rubiales, Franco and Infantino because they have not joined the public lynching. They know they have to wait for the court to decide on the matter.”
“I can guarantee that neither myself nor other Barça presidents have stolen from the club. I have no reason to be suspicious from them.”
Employees at the clubs and managers have admitted that they had no idea that these reports existed. What can you say about that?
Laporta: “I am the club’s president, and I can only speak for myself. The reports exist and they are here.”
“I don’t know what is going through Ceferin’s head, but UEFA have joined the campaign against Barcelona. There is also the Super League, which we are supporting.”
Joan Laporta: “Javier Tebas has to remember that he is representing La Liga, not himself. He has blatantly lied with his statements.”
“Nobody from the club ever told Negreira that we were looking for refereeing neutrality. That is his personal opinion that he gave to the tax agency, but nobody from the club ever said that. We paid for the technical reports, and that’s that.”
“Negreira’s son has worked for several clubs, for the Spanish federation, for Luis Aragones. It’s not illogical to ask him to provide his work for Barça.”
Didn’t anyone notice that this could be considered a conflict of interest?
Joan Laporta: “The truth is that the club was already receiving these reports when I arrived in 2003. We considered that they were experts in this area, and that they were the best people for the job.”
Joan Laporta: “Negreira had no capacity to designate referees or alternate results. Read article 20 on the Spanish federation’s rulebook.”
Joan Laporta: “I hope that this trial will expose how much Real Madrid have been favoured by refereeing decisions over the years.”
Does Real Madrid’s involvement affect your Super League plans?
Laporta: “No. We’re in the Super League because it is the best option for a sustainable model in football. We do not depend on Madrid or Juventus.”
Joan Laporta: “We will be taking these reports to court. They are very in-depth, with records for every referee that Barça had in that time. For example, I am reading this one which is from the 2014/2015 season.”
Joan Laporta: “Certain media outlets are promoting this smear campaign to attack Barça for political reasons, to attack Catalonia.”
Discussion about this post