Barcelona president hits out at Real Madrid regarding Negreira case: “It’s nonsense”

Barcelona’s troubles are not going away anytime soon. They are already dealing with a ton of financial trouble and registration issues, and when things were not getting any easier on the pitch, they were also handed the Negreira case mid-way through the season.

In essence, this case is about Barcelona’s payments to Jose Maria Enriquez Negreira, the vice-president of the Spanish refereeing association. The club have maintained their innocence regarding the payments, saying they were given for advice and were part of a common practice.

However, the issue has blown out of proportion, with UEFA and the Spanish prosecutor’s office involved in the case. Real Madrid, too, decided to tip their hat in the ring as a witness in the judicial process.

Their participation has not gone unnoticed by Barcelona, who are not happy given the two clubs were on seemingly good terms off the pitch.

Joan Laporta has called out Madrid, as quoted by Alfredo Martinez, saying, “The club that has been historically favoured in refereeing decisions has decided to appear in the Negreira case. It’s nonsense.”

Reports have claimed multiple times that the Negreira case is all bark no bite, and that there is a ton of evidence claiming that the payments were harmless and never influenced referees.

“They have nothing because there is nothing. Negreira had no power over the choice of referees or the results. Tomorrow I will explain everything.”

Recently, there were also rumours claiming that Javier Tebas had submitted fake evidence against Barcelona in the Negreira case. This was also officially denounced by the club, while La Liga maintain that such events never transpired.

Meanwhile, former Spanish referee Eduardo Iturralde has also come out to confirm that Barcelona never bought any referees, and that Negreira never tried to influence any officials in favour of the Catalan giants.

“I would put my hands in the fire. Barcelona never bought referees. Laporta should explain everything, where the money is.”