Barcelona President Joan Laporta came to the fore this Monday to try to defend the Barça entity in the Negreira case, a criminal case brought against the Catalan club over a €7.3m payment was opened to companies linked to the former Vice President of Barcelona.Arbitration Technical Committee, José María Enríquez Negreira, between 2001 and 2018. Laporta insisted, insisting that Barça suffer a “media lynch”, accused Real Madrid of “unprecedented cynicism” for appearing in the case, he assured that there were 643 reports and 43 CDs and that “they” were important and necessary.
He also pointed out Javier Tebas, the president of the employers’ federation, for “acting without prudence and responsibility” and suggested that Barcelona could be the “victim of the situation”. The most important thing for the Barca president was that Barcelona ‘never took any action with the purpose or intention of altering the competition in order to have a sporting advantage in their favour’. However, after more than two hours of performance, Laporta hinted that Barça paid 17 years for technical-arbitration reports, of which there are only documentary traces between 2014 and 2018, to Javier Enríquez Romero, Negreira’s son. The relationship between the club and the father, on the other hand, remains in the dark.
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Barcelona took more than two months to come up with a convincing public justification after Cadena Ser exposed the Negreira case on February 15. Before his appearance – according to club sources – the president rehearsed for many hours. The club’s lawyers had asked him to be very careful.
Despite more than two hours of performance, many doubts remain. “The Negreira case is not a case of corruption in sport,” stressed Laporta. Enríquez Negreira obtained from Barcelona via company between 2001 and 2018. His son appeared on the scene in 2014, although he had previously billed the club between 2003 and 2005 when his father was on leave. Laporta made Enríquez Romero’s advice clear: “These are well-written, high-quality reports. In addition, some are provided with illustrations. I would encourage all those who speak very lightly on this subject to tell me the match, goal, match or suspected referee favoritism action that was conducted for this Council. This is a false hypothesis,” the Barcelona president revealed.
On the other hand, he couldn’t be so blunt when repeatedly asked about Enríquez Negreira’s work. In fact, he asserted that compliance found only one report prior to 2014. “They are destroyed, they perish,” he said. And he turned his attention back to Enríquez Romero’s reports. “I always understood that the provider of the services was the son,” he stressed. And by the way, he made it clear: “I understand that this affects the father-son relationship.” In any case, Barcelona’s extensive defense offered no surprises. “Prosecutors have been unable to show that the payments made to Mr. Negreira’s affiliates could affect arbitration dates or sports results. They didn’t make it because it wasn’t possible,” Laporta condemned. However, the complaint tentatively concludes that Barcelona tried to manipulate competition with those payments that are not justified in deliberations and with which, as Negreira himself acknowledged in his statement to the Treasury, the Barça entity intended to ” to ensure “neutral” arbitration.
The prosecution has a hypothesis and has embodied it in the ad that gave rise to the court order: they suspect that Barça paid so that José María Enríquez Negreira, number two on the panel of referees, would influence them so that they will, according to Jesús García Bueno ended up benefiting the club in its decisions. As a result of the Osasuna case, the Supreme Court just ruled that this is a crime of mere activity. In other words, proof that the association’s intention was to fix is sufficient for a conviction, regardless of whether certain payments or benefits of members with first and last names can be proven.
Joan Laporta, during the press conference this Monday in Barcelona. DPA via Europa Press (DPA via Europa Press)
Laporta knew the jurisprudence and had prepared the answers to some questions very well, for example the one related to the ‘neutral’ treatment Negreiras Barcelona allegedly expected. “I refer to the report of the tax office. On page 17 it becomes clear that Mr. Negreira is saying this as a personal hypothesis. No one at the club told him this was to seek neutrality. The Negreira family’s services to Barcelona began in 2001, according to prosecutor’s documents. In other words, four presidents of Barcelona were involved in the Negreira case: Joan Gaspart (2001-2003), Joan Laporta (2003-2010), Sandro Rosell (2010-2015) and Josep Maria Bartomeu (2015-2018). “I do not speak on behalf of third parties. I can only speak for myself. Everything else will be explained in court. Since I left in 2010, the amount has increased. But I have no intention of distrusting. I understand that it will be explained in court,” Laporta said.
Barcelona president is confident he won’t receive a sanction from UEFA. The highest body in European football launched an internal investigation on March 22nd. “It seems to me that it’s one of the most serious cases in football since I’ve dealt with it,” said Ceferín, UEFA President. However, Laporta is optimistic. “First we have to win the league and qualify for the Champions League. I think that UEFA, as it is acting at the moment, is not going along with this public lynching without a trial that is being carried out from some spheres. I am convinced that this will not happen, it would be an unprecedented event with a club at the level of Barcelona being lynched without having judged it. False hypotheses are validated and UEFA is aware of that too, we are in contact with them, we explained it to them,” said the Barça coach.
FC Barcelona President Joan Laporta during the press conference this Monday in Barcelona. Alejandro Garcia (EFE)
He wasn’t that forgiving towards LaLiga. “The president of the LFP behaves absolutely irresponsibly. He’s trying to damage Barça’s reputation. He has a number of constant appearances with his statements where valid hypotheses are false. He says that Barca have realized that these services don’t exist and that’s not the case,” said Laporta.
Close to UEFA, far from LaLiga, the Barcelona president attacked Real Madrid, his partner in the Super League, without any evidence, accusing him of cynicism. “He says he feels hurt, a club like Madrid, historically favored by arbitration decisions, seen as the regime’s team due to its proximity to political, economic and sporting power. For seven decades most presidents of the CTA (Technical Arbitration Committee) have been ex-partners or ex-players or ex-directors of Real Madrid without interruption and on a few occasions all at once… Those in charge deliver justice. At least now they can be exposed and this trial will put them in their place, it’s an unprecedented exercise in cynicism.”
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