Laporta accuses Real Madrid of deliberately trying to discredit Barcelona

Joan Laporta launched a verbal offensive against Real Madrid on Saturday, claiming that the Madrid club is deliberately seeking to prolong the Negreira affair to tarnish FC Barcelona’s image.

On the sidelines of a ceremony, the Barcelona president responded to recent attacks from the Casa Blanca. “In the Negreira affair, they tried to condemn us before trial,” he declared, before asserting that his club will be cleared. “It is clear that the accusations against us are unfounded and that Barcelona will be acquitted.” Laporta also believed that Florentino Perez and his entourage are deliberately fueling the controversy: “They are dragging out the investigation as long as possible, but it will lead to nothing. Their only goal is to discredit Barcelona.”

The Catalan executive then went further, accusing Real Madrid of harming football as a whole. “They act this way to harm football because they are against everything. Whether at UEFA or in European competitions, they are against everything and everyone. That says a lot about a club that is losing prestige, recognition and credibility, both nationally and internationally,” he said, according to remarks reported by Marca.

Laporta also pointed to Real Madrid’s absence from an EFC congress as a symptom of a stance he judges to be counterproductive. “They have an extremely arrogant attitude, very authoritarian, very haughty. It makes them lose all credibility.”

These statements come in a context of growing tensions between the two clubs, whose leaders had nevertheless displayed a certain closeness at the time of the launch of the European Super League project. The Negreira affair — named after the former vice-president of the Spanish refereeing committee whom Barcelona allegedly paid for years — has since deeply damaged their relations. Real Madrid has not yet publicly responded to these new accusations.