Joan Laporta Launches Strong Attack on Real Madrid
The president of Barcelona denounced that the white club is conducting an "exercise in cynicism" with the "Negreira Case" and criticized its stance in the case.
FC Barcelona President Joan Laporta denounced that Real Madrid is engaging in "an exercise of cynicism" regarding the 'Caso Negreira', of which they are one of the private accusers, by asserting that the judge overseeing the case "has extended the investigation period at the request" of the Madrid club.
"The judge has now extended the investigation period of the 'Caso Negreira' at the request of Real Madrid. This is an unprecedented exercise of cynicism that we do not accept. Since Real Madrid is involved in the proceedings, they are allowed to request that the judge extend it," stated the top executive of the Catalan club in an interview with RAC1.
According to the Barcelona president, the head of the Court of Instruction No. 1 of Barcelona, Joaquín Aguirre, has decided to prolong the investigation of the case because, in his opinion, "he has spent a year without finding anything" regarding the million-dollar payments that Barcelona made to former Vice President of the Technical Committee of Referees (CTA) José María Enríquez Negreira.
In this regard, Laporta reiterated that Barça, which paid nearly 7 million euros to the former CTA official and his son between 2001 and 2018, contracted "technical arbitration services" and that this remuneration was never used to pay referees.
"Of the 23 referees who have been involved in the case, all have said the same thing: that Mr. (Enríquez) Negreira did not have the capacity to do that (buy referees). I still trust in justice and I am sure that Barça will be found innocent," he emphasized.
Nevertheless, Laporta criticized the stance of Real Madrid, which he believes "cannot speak much because for 70 years" the leaders of the referee association were "members, directors, players, or in some cases all at once" of the Madrid club.
He also described as "shameful" the videos that Real Madrid Television has been broadcasting this season about the referee association, prompting the Barcelona president to urge the CTA to take action on the matter.
"It is a club (Real Madrid) that has always benefited from refereeing decisions. Look at the day of Almería, which was a disgrace," he concluded.
