"It is evident that this is a campaign against Barça to tarnish a glorious period. The referee reports went to the sports area, although I do not know exactly to whom... I suppose the sports area requested them because they were important,"
"FC Barcelona has never undertaken any action intended to alter the competition. That is very clear."
"I do not remember when it started, but it was before our presidency, because it was inherited. I was informed that there was an advisory service, and it was considered worthwhile to continue these payments,"
Joan Laporta, president of FC Barcelona, appeared as a witness before Judge Alejandra Gil in the Negreira case. Payments amounting to €7.2 million over 17 years were made to companies linked to former vice president José María Enríquez Negreira and were described as inherited from previous administrations. The club continued payments because the sporting area deemed the advisory service useful. The payments were considered relatively small, so the board did not scrutinize them and relied on sporting staff to judge their value. The increase in payments was attributed to a higher volume of reports. Barcelona maintains the payments aimed to obtain referee performance reports and asserts no action was taken to alter competition. Former coaches Luis Enrique and Ernesto Valverde confirmed lack of knowledge about such reports during their tenures.
Read at Barca Blaugranes
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