Laporta reaffirmed in a press conference held Monday to discuss this issue, “The club has never done anything with the aim or intention of changing the competition to achieve some kind of sporting advantage.”
Barcelona President Joan Laporta confirmed Monday that the Catalan club has “never done anything to obtain some kind of sporting advantage”, in the midst of investigations into allegations of bribery of a former senior official in Spanish arbitration.
Last month, Spanish prosecutors accused Barcelona of paying a total of more than 7.3 million euros to a company owned by Jose Maria Enriques Negrera, the former referee and former vice-president of the Technical Arbitration Committee of the Spanish Football Federation between 1994 and 2018.
Barcelona said that he paid that amount in exchange for advice and oral advice on matters related to the referees.
“The club has never done anything with the aim or intention of changing the competition to achieve some kind of sporting advantage,” Laporta reaffirmed in a press conference held on Monday to discuss this issue.
He added that the allegations of wrongdoing were part of a “smear campaign” against the Catalans, who currently lead the Spanish league.
The lawsuits decided by the Barcelona Public Prosecutor’s Office target the Catalan club as a legal person, in addition to former presidents Josep Maria Bartomeu (2014-2020) and Sandro Rosell (2010-2014). .
La Liga president Javier Tebas said last month that Spanish football was experiencing its “worst” moment ever because of the case.
He added, “Our football reputation is at stake. I am ashamed. We have no explanation from Barcelona.”
