Barcelona president denies allegations of paying referees for ‘sporting advantage’

Amid allegations of corruption to “influence referees”, FC Barcelona president Joan Laporta on Monday categorically denied any wrongdoing, claiming that the side "have never done anything with intentions of taking a sporting advantage in a competition”.

Speaking at a press conference at the club’s Camp Nou stadium, Laporta maintained that his club was one with “values” and while they liked to wanted to win, it was through fair play and on their own merit.

“We are an institution of values,” the Barca president said, “We like to win by playing well. That is how we win. We don’t like to win because we had help from the referees.”

The remarks came amidst corruption charges against the Catalan club by Spanish prosecutors last month. Earlier this year, Spanish authorities uncovered payments of more than €7.3 million ($7.8 million) to a company owned by a former refereeing chief Jose Maria Enriquez Negreira.

Referring to the rumors as a “smear campaign”, Laporta said: “Never has a campaign against Bacra paid off. Barcelona continues to be a point of reference in the world of sports and Barcelona continues to be loved and admired by millions of Catalans and millions of people around the world.”

"Basically, it is an orchestrated campaign to destroy the reputation of FC Barcelona".

Taking to Twitter, the club wrote: "It is one of the most ferocious attacks in our history. I ask Barcelona fans to remain more united than ever in the defense of our shield, our essences and our ownership model, which is that of a club for all members"

Laporta further added that the “third-party” agency looking into the matter had found no evidence of wrongdoing and said that Spain’s tax office sent a letter to prosecutors stating that "it has not been able to demonstrate that the payments made to Negreira’s companies could have influenced the referees or the result of any match."

"They could not show it because it was not possible,” he said.

According to Barcelona, Negreira — the former referee and ex-vice president of the refereeing committee of the Spanish football federation (CTA) — was paid for reports and advice related to refereeing.

This claim was reaffirmed by Laporta who said the payments made were all “legal and documented.”

"Some services were provided. They were documented. There were invoices, payments registered in the accounting books. There was no crime of corruption," Laporta said.

The Spanish prosecutors said that the payments from Barcelona ceased in 2018 after Negreira left the CTA.

It is worth mentioning here that along with the club and Negreira, Josep Maria Bartomeu and Sandro Rosell — two of the club’s former presidents — are also facing charges of corruption.

— With additional input from AFP.