Five months after the last face-to-face conversation, the headquarters of LaLiga became the scene of the long-awaited reunion between Javier Tebas, president of LaLiga, and Joan Laporta, his counterpart at FC Barcelona. They had not spoken since November. Throughout this period the two presidents have made their differences clear in public and in private. Despite the deep differences, the two leaders greeted each other yesterday with a handshake and restrained cordiality. They even had a couple of minutes to exchange opinions when the assembly ended. It was Tebas who sought out the Barcelona president to thank him for his presence. Also to reproach him that he should have spoken to the clubs earlier. “I told Laporta that it is incomprehensible to be paying the vice-president of the referees for so many years. Personally, I don’t think he bought the referees, but I do think they tried to influence them”, said Tebas.
Their reunion was witnessed by the 42 representatives of the First and Second Division clubs (mostly presidents), who attended an extraordinary assembly to hear Laporta’s explanations about the Negreira case. “It has conceptually defended its position as a club. He didn’t convince us, but it wasn’t the day to corner him either. We have all reproached him that Barcelona hired these services, but without getting involved”, said one of the presidents who went to the meeting, held behind closed doors, to this newspaper.
Absent during the last two LaLiga meetings, this time Laporta did not delegate his presence to any Superliga lawyer he shared with Real Madrid. The white club was one of the few that was not represented by its president. Florentino Pérez delegated his second, José Ãngel Sánchez. He greeted Laporta and Mao Ye Wu, Espanyol’s adviser, sat between the two. José Ãngel Sánchez was one of the few representatives who did not speak in an assembly that began at 11:00 a.m. and lasted until 2:45 p.m. “He has not spoken; he hasn’t had time”, assured Tebas, half joking half seriously, after the meeting. “Madrid has already spoken, it has entered the case as a private prosecution. His position is clear”, he justified.
Accompanied by the head of the club’s legal services, Pere LluÃs Mellado, Laporta defended for 20 minutes the same arguments as in Monday’s press conference. He released the report that was made by an external law firm and commissioned by the club’s Compliance area and made the conclusions clear: Barcelona did not buy any referees, therefore there is no crime of corruption sports; the hiring of Negreira’s services, the cost of which amounted to more than seven million euros, is documented with 629 arbitration reports, 43 CDs and 4 miscellaneous reports corresponding to the period 2014-2018 and all payments have their corresponding invoices . He also alleged that the advice of Negreira’s son, Javier EnrÃquez Romero, in matters of scouting and arbitration reports, are common in the professional sports sector. And he pointed out that out of respect for the administration of justice, all clarifications and doubts that LaLiga or the clubs may have will be duly answered in the court, where LaLiga is already represented. “Neither I nor the clubs consider that Laporta has clarified anything”, said Tebas.
The Barcelona president was seen to be particularly comfortable talking to the top manager of Sevilla, José Castro, one of the clubs that has criticized Negreira’s payments the most. Castro was one of those who participated the most by taking the floor. Also Miguel Ãngel MarÃn, CEO of Atlético de Madrid, or Amaia Gorostiza, president of Eibar. “Because of your performance, all the clubs are discredited in the Spanish and European sphere”, almost everyone reproached him. There were also those who reached out to him. “LaLiga and the clubs respect you, and it’s your home, but it’s an issue that stinks and we demand an answer, not LaLiga, all the clubs. It would be good if you apologized just for the noise that has been caused”, said the president of Cadiz, Manolo VizcaÃno, to Laporta. “Well, it’s still good that it’s my house. But I thank him for telling me”, President Laporta replied with a laugh. Both have a very good relationship.
“The topic of the Real Madrid video also came up”, add the sources consulted about the meeting. Laporta assured that “he will not talk about third parties again”. Tebas agreed. “The video does not add anything. Nor what Laporta contributed about the regime’s clubs”, he pointed out in the assembly and in this case also in front of the media. Although financial fair play was not discussed during the more than two hours of the assembly, Tebas, already in a press conference, did point out that “I hope that FC Barcelona will make the necessary moves to fit Messi in. I’m a fan of it. But we will not change any rule of economic control so that it returns”, he warned. Both sides are willing to build bridges.
