Joan Laporta has addressed a letter to the presidents of UEFA and FIFA asking them not to prejudge or take sides against Barcelona until justice has ruled on the Negreira case, according to Catalunya RÃ dio this afternoon.
The letters, addressed directly to Alexander Ceferin and Gianni Infantino, would have been sent yesterday, according to this information, and would have as their first objective to respond to the statements by the top leader of UEFA, who pointed out this week that the situation was worrying and that the body could take action on the matter. The first measure, if he considers the accusations to be true, would be to exclude the club from European competitions for at least one season.
“Judging by my information, the situation of Barcelona is exceptionally serious. So much so that it seems to me that it is one of the most serious cases in football since I deal with it. Nothing has prescribed in UEFA,” he said in an interview to the Slovenian magazine Ekipa.
Although the president of UEFA did not advance whether the club’s participation in the next Champions League was under question, he did point out that the matter was in the hands of the disciplinary committee of this body.
The letter from the Barça president also asks Ceferin and Infantino to refrain from making any more public statements in relation to the case as there is an open judicial process in which the club must be able to defend itself with guarantees.
Laporta announced, on the other hand, that he will give explanations of the case once the internal investigation carried out by an external law firm is concluded, initially after the match against Girona next Monday at the Camp Nou.
