” I am ashamed “. Javier Tebas, boss of the Spanish League, has no words strong enough to describe the scandal that is shaking FC Barcelona, and by extension all of Spanish football. Last week, Spanish justice indicted the Catalan club and several of its former managers for “corruption”, “breach of trust” and “false business records” after payments of more than 7.3 million euros to a company owned by Jose Maria Enriquez Negreira, a former head of the referees, also prosecuted, were discovered at the beginning of the year.
Facts that lead Tebas to say that Spanish football is going through the worst moment in its history. Barca, for their part, claim to have paid the ex-head of the Spanish Football Federation (CTA) arbitration committee from 1994 to 2018 for reports and advice related to arbitration. “There are payments recognized by Barcelona to the vice-president of the CTA, it’s something abnormal,” Tebas told Movistar Vamos channel.
“It is clear that this generates tensions. The reputation of our football is at stake. I am ashamed. We have no explanation from Barcelona,” the manager thundered. To put an end to the accusations, Barça president Joan Laporta claimed last Tuesday that his club had “never bought a referee”. “Let it be clear that Barça never bought a referee nor intended to buy referees. Absolutely never, ”defended the leader during a conference.
“Fierce attacks that aim to smear our club”
On Monday, Laporta appeared emotional during a speech at the Camp Nou and said it was not weakness, but on the contrary proof of his desire to tackle his club’s critics. “Do not think that I am moved by weakness, I am because I really want to face all the scoundrels who tarnish our image, he hammered. There are ferocious attacks aimed at smearing our club, which have nothing to do with reality. »
The Barcelona public prosecutor’s office has launched proceedings against Barça as a legal person, as well as against its former presidents Josep Maria Bartomeu (from 2014 to 2020), and Sandro Rosell (between 2010 and 2014). Oscar Grau and Albert Soler, members of Bartomeu’s former team, are also being prosecuted. Sanctions against the club could range from “suspension of activity… to outright dissolution of the company,” Alberto Palomar, a law professor at Carlos III University in Madrid, told AFP.