Joan Laporta pointing out the enemies: Tebas and Real Madrid
Laporta defended the honour of Barça for two hours. And he did so with the firm conviction that the Blaugrana club is absolutely innocent of any crime of sporting corruption. The president reiterated that the 'Negreira case' is a media lynching without trial and pointed out that behind this campaign of harassment and demolition lies the ultimate desire to control the club with the aim of appropriating it. Laporta explained the conclusions of the report by Barça's compliance department, which shows that the services provided by Javier Enríquez Romero, son of the then vice-president of the Technical Committee of Referees, are within the law. He revealed that 629 technical reports, 43 CDs and 4 other miscellaneous reports from the period 2014-2018 have been compiled. And he insisted on a key fact: Enríquez Negreira had no capacity to influence refereeing appointments, as is clear from article 29 of the General Regulations of the Royal Spanish Football Federation.
Laporta was extremely firm on two of the main actors in this campaign, Javier Tebas and Real Madrid. He accused the president of La Liga of having acted "irresponsibly" and of a "lack of professionalism". Meanwhile he singled out Los Blancos as "the team of the regime, which has benefited from refereeing actions for 70 years". "Appearing as a private wounded party is an unprecedented exercise in cynicism," he explained. And he was relatively calm about the future that awaits Barça in the courts and in the Champions League: "We will be exonerated and we will continue as normal in European competitions". Laporta called for the unity of Barça supporters in defence of the badge, the founding essence of the club and the ownership model. And he threatened others with more lawsuits, against all those who try to tarnish the club's image, even asking for damages with multimillion-dollar compensations.
DESTROYING BARÇA AT A DECISIVE MOMENT
In his marathon appearance before the media, Laporta once again singled out all those who "want to destroy Barça" because they do not accept that "it represents a Catalan identity that is open to the world". And he was particularly critical of the journalists who have become the instigators of this desperate attempt to discredit and destabilise at a decisive moment in the club's history: when it is emerging from the triple sporting, economic and institutional crisis and when it is seeking funding for the transcendental construction of the new Spotify Camp Nou and the Espai Barça. The president, without a doubt, offered his best communicative version, exhibited transparency and cleared all doubts about a 'Negreira case' that in reality has no basis in reality. Another thing is whether he manages to put an end to the campaign against Barça. Their enemies are many and very powerful and they are not going to give up easily. They will continue to accuse Barça of buying referees. Even if it's a lie...
