Jordi Mestre: What was paid for ref reports was a barbarity

The 'Negreira case' presents new developments every day. Today, the Catalan referee Estrada Fernández has filed a criminal complaint against Enríquez Negreira and his son, Javier Enríquez Romero, for attacking the cleanliness of football.

Jordi Mestre, who was Barça's sporting vice-president under Josep Maria Bartomeu, has spoken about the case. The ex-manager has said that nobody can think that the blaugrana club bought referees, as it has been insinuated from several sectors since the case was known. "I am surprised and upset because to associate this with us having received favourable treatment from the referees is imagination. We lost a league title at Camp Nou against Atlético because of a disallowed goal that was a goal and we had a goal disallowed at Betis when the ball had gone in by one metre," he said in an interview on Rac-1's 'Tu Diràs'.

Mestre explained that he had no relationship with Negreira, but he did know about the existence of the reports, although he did not pay much attention to them. "I didn't know about the relationship with Enríquez Negreira. I have never seen him in my life. Neither him nor his son. I did know that there were reports that were passed on for the first team and the reserve team. They were passed on to me, but it was a technical matter and I told them not to pass them on to me. They were refereeing reports. Josep Contreras passed them on to me. This man was a member of the sports commission, he wasn't a director. I imagine that they reached the technical secretariat and from there, I don't know. I didn't see any substance in them and I didn't give them much importance", explained the ex-manager.

The former sporting vice-president explained that he didn't know the cost of those reports either, but that once he heard the figures in the press, he thought they were exaggerated. "It is a very important cost, it is barbaric. An executive, to be paid half a million a year, has to be very good. Of course, if, as they say, it was to buy referees, they have swindled us because they did us a disservice. If I had known the price, I would have asked for explanations".

Mestre clarified that these reports never passed through the board of directors. Nor what they cost and he said that it was a matter for the executives and that there is already a Compliance department in the club that must give the green light to all operations.