The investigation ordered by Barcelona into its controversial funds for refereeing experiences discovered no proof of corruption by the membership, president Joan Laporta stated Monday.
Laporta reiterated that the membership’s funds over a number of years to the corporate owned by the vp of Spain’s refereeing committee have been just for technical experiences and to not affect referees. He stated he believed there have been no ethics breach and that Barcelona was the sufferer of a marketing campaign to harm its status.
“This is without doubt one of the most ferocious assaults in our historical past,” Laporta stated. “I ask FC Barcelona supporters to be as united as ever in protection of our crest, our essence, and our possession mannequin. No marketing campaign to discredit us will stop us from persevering with to be a corporation of reference on the planet of sports activities that’s beloved and admired by hundreds of thousands of Catalans and by many extra hundreds of thousands of individuals world wide.”
It was the primary time Laporta spoke at a information convention to present explanations after it turned public that the membership paid 7.3 million euros ($8 million) from 2001-18 to the corporate of then committee vp José María Enríquez Negreira. Prosecutors have accused Barcelona of alleged corruption in sports activities, fraudulent administration, and falsification of mercantile documentation.
Barcelona opened the probe to look into the actions of all of the totally different presidential administrations that made funds through the years, together with Laporta’s first on the membership. The investigation was performed by an exterior firm.
The membership stated the probe discovered that “no conducts of a felony nature related to sporting corruption have been recognized, nor are there any grounds to analyze any type of felony exercise related to bribery.” It added there was “official documentation on the invoices and funds” for the companies of “scouting and recommendation relating to referees, that are frequent practices within the skilled sports activities sector.”
“Consulting on technical-refereeing points doesn’t represent any sort of unlawful act,” Laporta stated. “Consulting, as is completed by the massive golf equipment, that was carried out transparently, with the corresponding invoices, no less than in my first mandate as president.”
The probe discovered 629 technical refereeing experiences and 43 CDs that the membership acquired over 18 years for what Laporta known as “market worth.” Extra experiences have been possible misplaced over time, he stated.
“I reiterate with all my resolve, I’m satisfied that FC Barcelona has not dedicated any crime of sports-related corruption. I hope that sooner fairly than later, it’s totally exonerated,” he stated. “Accusations should be confirmed. We stay by the rule of legislation, which ensures amongst its primary ideas the presumption of innocence.”
He stated that if there have been any irregularities dedicated by Negreira, Barcelona can be a sufferer of them. He additionally stated Negreira was not ready to instantly affect referees, and that it was Negreira’s son who truly produced the refereeing experiences.
“I dare anybody to indicate an occasion by which Barcelona was favored in a match due to these funds,” Laporta stated. “We’ll permit the justice system to do its work and I’m certain that Barcelona will probably be cleared. I’m totally satisfied that FC Barcelona has by no means carried out any act with the intention of altering the competitors to achieve a bonus.”