October 19, (THEWILL) – Barcelona president, Joan Laporta, has dismissed bribery allegations made against him as part of the ongoing investigations into the Negreira case.
Laporta, who was president of the Catalan club between 2003-2010, was initially not under investigation. However, judge Joaquin Aguirre Lopez recently adjusted his interpretation of the 10-year statute of limitations for bribery and sports corruption charges. As a result, the timeframe has been extended from 2013-2023 to cover 2008-2018, putting Laporta’s previous tenure under scrutiny.
“I am calm, strong and loaded with arguments,” Laporta told Catalunya Radio. “Today I am speaking again because I do not agree and I believe that the imputation is unfounded.”
Laporta denied any wrongdoing, stating: “We can be calm, this case will be like so many cases that this judge has brought, which have ended up being filed. He says that we have bought referees: it is not true!”
The Barcelona president went on to blame “sociological Madridismo” – an alleged institutional bias towards rivals Real Madrid – for the continued legal pressure on his club.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
