Barcelona interim president Rafa Yuste has dismissed Florentino Perez’s claims relating to the Negreira case as “pathetic” and says his Real Madrid counterpart is looking for excuses to disguise “poor sports management”.
Perez slammed Barca last night at a hastily-arranged press conference in which he also took aim at boardoom detractors and the media as part of a lengthy rant that appeared to blame everyone and everything, bar himself, for the capital club’s current woes.
He highlighted the Negreira case as one area in which he feels Barcelona are treated differently and said a 500-page dossier compiled by the club was almost complete and would be sent to UEFA.
What is the Negreira case?
The Negreira case is an ongoing investigation centred around payments of €7million made by Barca to companies linked to José María Enríquez Negreira, the former vice-president of the Spanish referees’ committee (CTA), between 2001 and 2018.
Madrid believe they led to on-field decisions in favour of Barcelona.
Barca insist there was no wrongdoing and claim the payments were made to Negreira to act as a consultant on the technical aspects of refereeing.
What did Perez say last night?
Perez did not hold back, claiming it was “the biggest case of corruption in history”.
He said: “The corruption in the Negreira case is systemic. That we have to listen to the president of the CTA claiming these are things that must be forgotten. But why must they be forgotten? We are making a 500-page dossier that we are going to send to UEFA.
“There are no precedents in the history of world football. How are we going to forget the biggest case of corruption that has happened in history. It is incomprehensible that we continue to see referees of that time in a competition like La Liga.”
Perez even claimed Madrid’s trophy haul would have been far greater had that “corruption” not occurred.
He added: “I have been here I don’t know how many seasons and I have only won seven European Cups and seven La Ligas, which could have been 14 because they have been stolen from me. We have made a video of the 18 points that have been taken away from us this season. I can’t shut up about that.”
How did Yuste respond?
Yuste, who is holding the role of president until Joan Laporta returns in an official capacity on July 1 after winning the March election, was forthright in his dismissal of Perez’s claims.
Speaking in Vitoria, ahead of the champions’ game against Alaves tonight, he said: “Florentino’s words seemed pathetic to me and full of falsehoods. The club already made a statement yesterday studying legal action but I want to say that this manoeuvre by Florentino Pérez to cover up a sporting disaster that has been going on for two years will not get him anywhere.
“Seven La Ligas stolen? This is a total falsehood. He will know we are going to defend ourselves, we owe it to the fans and the club and no-one touches the club.”
Barca beat Real Madrid to retain the league title on Sunday and Yuste was eager to highlight the Catalans’ superiority, adding: “It’s not worth talking about Negreira again when we have won two league titles with a project with players from La Masia and others who have arrived from outside. We are winning it with a 14-point difference and this is a smokescreen to try to justify poor sports management. The Barca fans are very happy and nothing will take away our happiness.
“I saw the press conference later, not live, and it didn’t make me laugh or cry. I felt sorry for him.”
