Joan Laporta recently spoke at a press conference, and addressed the heated Enriquez Negreira corruption case that Barcelona have found themselves in. The Barcelona president maintained that the club has done no wrongdoing and that the payments were all reflected in the balance sheets.
Moreover, he has claimed that the evidence against them has been manufactured and that the club’s image is being tampered with through the case.
Joan Laporta speaks out over Barcelona-Enriquez Negreira case
“No campaign to discredit us will prevent us from continuing to be an organization of reference in the world of sports that is beloved and admired by millions of Catalans and by many more millions of people around the world,” Laporta said.
“I am fully convinced that FC Barcelona has never performed any act with the intention of altering the competition to gain an advantage.”
“If there were any person or private entity outside the club that had taken advantage of this context to commit irregularities, the Club would be the first to fully investigate. Our image is at stake.”
“Accusations must be proven. We live by the Rule of Law, which guarantees among its basic principles the presumption of innocence.”
“I reiterate with all my resolve, I am convinced that FC Barcelona has not committed any crime of sports-related corruption. I hope that sooner rather than later, it is fully exonerated.”
“This is one of the most ferocious attacks in our history. I ask Barca supporters to be as united as ever in defence of our crest, our essence, and our ownership model, which is that of a club owned by all of its members.
“Consulting on technical-refereeing issues does not constitute any type of illegal act. Consulting — as is done by the big clubs — that was carried out transparently, with the corresponding invoices, at least in my first mandate as president.”
Joan Laporta and the club have always maintained that the payments were for technical advice on refereeing. They also released a statement which claimed that the payments were not made to ‘buy referees’. A final decision from the court is yet to be heard regarding the corruption case.
