Despite the violent attack, Tebas confirms Barcelona’s innocence in buying the referees

Javier Tebas, President of the Spanish League “La Liga”, spoke about the developments of the “Negrera case” regarding the financial corruption of FC Barcelona.

The Spanish judiciary convicted FC Barcelona of corruption and bribery of the referees during the period from 2016-2018, with the assistance of the head of the Referees Committee in this period, Negrera.

The president of La Liga said in statements reported by the newspaper “Sport” that he does not believe in any way that FC Barcelona will use the money to buy any referee.

He continued, “I think that Barcelona did not buy the referees, but they paid Negrera when he was the vice-president of the referees, and this is a fact.”

Tebas confirmed that he insisted that Barcelona president Joan Laporta provide explanations to Barcelona members, saying: “Barcelona is a very important club for the league, but hiding is not the way. You must provide explanations and be honest with its members.”

And he stressed: “I do not in any way doubt the successes that Barcelona has achieved in recent times, despite the information related to the payments. I do not question Barcelona’s successes, neither the triple nor the six-way, but there is behavior that must be judged.”

He commented on Barcelona’s penalty, in his opinion, saying: “It could end up being expelled from the league or relegating.”

In the investigations of the Public Prosecutor, it was established that Sandro Rosell and Josep Maria Bartomeu, former Barcelona club presidents, were involved in illegally paying a bribe of €1.7 million to a company owned by Enrique Negrera’s son.