FC Barcelona: Joan Laporta firmly rebukes Florentino Pérez | OneFootball

Joan Laporta

FC Barcelona president Joan Laporta didn’t hold back this Friday, taking aim at Real Madrid’s president, Florentino Pérez.

Last Sunday, during Real Madrid’s General Assembly, the head of Los Blancos, Florentino Pérez, slammed Spanish officiating and FC Barcelona over the José María Enriquez Negreira affair, the former vice-president of the Technical Committee of Referees. Negreira is alleged to have been paid by the Catalan club between 2001 and 2018. Speaking to the press this Friday, Joan Laporta fired back, sharply putting the Real Madrid boss in his place.

"I find such remarks out of place, it just shows that Real is always thinking about Barça. It’s as if they need to talk about Barça to justify who knows what. They’re still involved in the Negreira case, dragging it out because they know there’s nothing there, but it’s a way to justify something that isn’t true: Barça has never bought a referee and Barça generally isn’t favored by referees. The officials have always favored Madrid. Just look at the last matchday—two goals were scored that, in my opinion, clearly show Bellingham handled the ball to help score, and in the other, Vinicius broke Inaki’s nose. Those two goals should never have stood, and right now Barça would be leading La Liga," the Barça chief told reporters.