Guardiola comes out in defence of Laporta and Barcelona over Negreira allegations | OneFootball

The Negreira case has been making a lot of noise in Spanish football spheres, with the matter involving Barcelona’s payments to Jose Enriquez Negreira during his time as the vice president of the Referees’ Technical Committee (CTA) being currently investigated in courts.

Barcelona maintain that the payments, handed out between 2001 and 2018, were made in exchange for reports on referees and scouting reports, and there has been no evidence of any wrongdoing.

Despite that, Real Madrid continue to make accusatory comments directed at the Blaugrana, with their president Florentino Perez himself launching multiple attacks in recent weeks.

Not stopping there, Los Blancos have also asked the court to see Barcelona’s financial documents and audit reports between 2010 and 2018, while recent reports suggest that they are even considering demanding financial compensation as damages.

Pep Guardiola’s staunch defence of Barcelona

Now, former Barcelona manager Pep Guardiola has come out in defence of the club and the club president against the constant attacks pertaining to the Negreira case.

“When I see the verdict, I will give my opinion. Until then, Laporta and all the presidents are innocent of everything that is being said. Barça is innocent and Laporta is innocent,” said Guardiola at a press conference.

Guardiola has spoken out in defence of Barcelona. (Photo by Molly Darlington/Getty Images)

The coach also sought to put the club’s most successful years into context, especially on the pitch, in order to dismiss any suspicion surrounding Barcelona’s sporting performances.

“You are very young and you haven’t seen how we played football. It was incredible how we played,” he replied to the journalist, visibly annoyed by the focus of the question.

Guardiola defended the footballing superiority of that Barcelona side that defined an era and left a lasting mark on European and world football.

“We won everything because we were much better than our rivals,” he insisted, emphasising that the successes came on merit and not because of external factors.

It was a firm, direct and uncompromising defence from Guardiola of Barcelona, his and the team’s legacy as well as the club’s leadership amid attacks from rival parties.

Source: SPORT