Never before has the crisis in Spanish football sunk so low. This has been said by La Liga president Javier Tebas in response to the corruption charges against Barcelona.
New revelations about Barça
Barcelona is suspected of bribing referees. The so-called Caso Negreira is keeping the Spanish football world busy. For example, the supporters of Athletic Bilbao showed their distaste with various expressions in the home game with Barça (0-1) on Sunday. Real Madrid is also involved in the matter, which in turn led to suspicion of former referee Eduardo Itturalde González. “I’m ashamed,” Tebas said in conversation with Movistar+ on Monday evening. “This is inexplicable.”
Joan Laporta continues to deny that the club bribed referees
Barcelona president Joan Laporta continues to deny that the club bribed referees. Former presidents Sandro Rosell and Josep María Bartomeu have justified secret payments to referee boss José María Enríquez Negreira as self-defense, according to a new publication from El Mundo, according to private conversations with other Barcelona officials. Rosell and Bartomeu were convinced that the arbitration was in Real Madrid’s favor and wanted guarantees that the referees would be neutral.
Tebas thinks that Laporta is also not unpunished: “If the president of Barcelona knows it so well, let him explain. I cannot remember that we have had such an institutional crisis in Spanish football. This situation needs to be clarified, we need to find the culprits. As far as I can remember, this is the worst moment in the history of Spanish football. I find it shameful that Barcelona does not come up with a convincing explanation. Besides, they say this is something everyone did, but it isn’t.”
Witnesses
According to El País, former trainers Luis Enrique and Ernesto Valverde have now been called as witnesses in the corruption case. They worked at Barcelona during the period that the secret payments were made (2001-2018), but were not aware of the practices, according to El Mundo. Valverde, now trainer of Athletic Bilbao, already announced on Sunday that he has no doubts about the legitimacy of the national title he won with Barcelona in the 2017/18 season. He said, “We became champions with a fourteen point difference.”
Nevertheless, according to Spanish media, it is a possibility that titles will be taken away, should Barcelona be found guilty. Relegation to the Segunda División is also a scenario in that case. The fact that Real Madrid has offered to testify in a statement in the corruption case that may have ruined the arch-rival, therefore leads to frowned eyebrows in Spain. According to Tebas, however, the club is in its right. He concludes, “Madrid follows the procedure of La Liga, we simply want to clarify the situation.”
