Negreira case: Barça's Laporta says "UEFA have not fallen into Tebas' trap"

Joan Laporta appeared in front of the media at the press conference on the 'Negreira case' on Monday to clarify the controversy surrounding the UEFA investigation.

The Barcelona president wanted to compare the actions of the highest European body with those of LaLiga, which he described as 'irresponsible' due to Javier Tebas' statements. 

"If I have spoken about Tebas, it is because I think he is behaving in an absolutely irresponsible way to damage Barcelona's reputation," Laporta said.

"He is validating hypotheses that are false: he said that Barça recognised that these services did not exist and this is completely false."

Laporta referred to the fact of the presumption of innocence, a right that has not been respected. He did not hesitate to point the finger at Tebas. 

"I refer again to the report of the Tax Agency," he continued. "On page 20, the club's employees said that they could not locate the reports, not that they had not been done.

"Fortunately, the 'Compliance' area has found 629 reports and 43 CDs between 2014 and 2018. [UEFA president] Mr Ceferin, for his part, is acting prudently and responsibly."

On the UEFA chief, who raised the possibility of sanctioning Barcelona, Laporta said that "he has not fallen into Mr Tebas's trap. At least for the moment.

"The inputs I have from UEFA's investigation is that they will pronounce when we are judged. As I am convinced that Barça will be exonerated of any criminal responsibility, it is clear to me that we will continue as normal."