Negreira scandal: Barcelona president Joan Laporta ATTACKS ‘team of the regime’ Real Madrid in defiant tirade - ‘They have always been favoured by refereeing decisions’

• Payments made to former referees chief
• Rivals taking legal action
• Catalan giants maintain their innocence

WHAT HAPPENED? Laporta has also claimed that the Blancos have historically “been favoured by refereeing decisions”, with Barca fighting to clear their name after being accused of buying favour among match officials after admitting to making payments to Jose Maria Enriquez Negreira - form vice-president of the Technical Committee of Referees – between 2001 and 2018. Laporta maintains that the Blaugrana did nothing wrong, with shots fired at Clasico rivals Real – who are among those pushing for action to be taken by La Liga and UEFA.

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WHAT THEY SAID: Laporta has said in Monday's press conference: “I want to refer to the presence of a club, on its own, as a private accusation in the trial. A club that says it feels harmed. A club that has always been favoured by refereeing decisions. It has been considered the team of the regime. Because of their proximity to political and economic power. I think it is worth remembering that for seven decades, most of the presidents of the CTA have been ex-members, ex-players or ex-directors of Real Madrid. For 70 years, the people who appointed those who had to deliver justice on the pitch, they were ex-partners, ex-players or ex-directors of Real Madrid. In some cases, all this at the same time.”

THE BIGGER PICTURE: Barca are preparing to argue their case in court, while facing possible sanctions from UEFA, but Laporta added on the allegations being made against them: “When this controversy came out, about the case of Negreira, what became clear is that it was a campaign against the reputation of Barcelona. FC Barcelona has never done any kind of activity with the intention of swinging the competition in our favour. We have never done anything with the intention of taking a sporting advantage. We have suffered a public lynching. They have assumed we are guilty before we were judged fairly. This lynching is not deserved. Our good game is in play, as well as our credibility and that of the referees, and that of football.”

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WHAT NEXT? Barcelona are currently top of the Liga table, but they have been experiencing financial difficulties and any fines relating to the Negreira case would hit them hard – with the Catalan giants being linked with a move to bring seven-time Ballon d’Or winner Lionel Messi back onto their books.