La Liga president hits back at Laporta and Barcelona over Negreira case: “Still no explanation”

At this point, it is well-established that there is no love lost between Barcelona president Joan Laporta and La Liga supremo Javier Tebas.

The two presidents have been at constant loggerheads for quite some time now over various matters, be it the Financial Fair Play issues, or the Super League project, or the CVC agreement.

Now, the Negreira scandal can also be added to the list as Tebas has been repeatedly pointing fingers at Barcelona and demanding explanations for the payments that were made by the club to the former VP of the Referees’ Committee.

Laporta spoke to the media earlier today and lashed out at the accusations being directed towards the club, stating that it was a smear campaign being carried out against Barcelona.

Tebas has now once again taken aim at Laporta and the Blaugrana, stating that there has been no explanation provided by the club and questioning whether the Barcelona president has taken the right position in the matter.

“I don’t know if Laporta has taken the right position. I feel ashamed. I can’t remember a time when such an institutional crisis took place. I feel ashamed. For now, there’s still no explanation…,” he told Vamos (h/t SPORT).

“Not only is Barca’s reputation in jeopardy, but also the competition. Days have passed, but they still haven’t given an explanation,” he added.

Barcelona’s lawyers are reportedly busy at work gathering all facts and information regarding the case, with the plan being that Laporta holds a press conference in two weeks’ time to provide clarification on the payments that the club made to Negreira.

Amidst all this, the Blaugrana have been charged with corruption by the Prosecutor’s office, although reports indicate that they have no evidence about the club making the payments to influence referees appointments and decisions.

Meanwhile, Tebas also commented on the VAR situation in La Liga, with many complaints emerging over its handling in recent matches.

The most recent case happened in Barcelona’s game against Athletic Club last night when the latter had a late equaliser ruled out by the VAR for handball. The decision did not go down well with the Basque club, who have been vocal in expressing their displeasure over the matter.

“We have to study VAR more broadly. We have to see if the people out there are the right people. There is incredible anxiety in all clubs during matches and we have to find solutions as soon as possible,” Tebas said.