Barcelona President Joan Laporta – ‘It’s been shown I made the right decision on Lionel Messi exit’ | OneFootball

Barcelona President Joan Laporta has claimed that his decision to move Lionel Messi on five years ago has been vindicated by the results over his second tenure. Laporta, who was recently elected for a fourth mandate, ran his campaign in 2021 on the basis that he would guarantee Messi’s continuity, but come August of that year, told the Argentina legend that he had no contract for him.

Laporta has justified his decision in a number of ways, and recently former manager and teammate of Messi, Xavi Hernandez, claimed that he deliberately sabotaged his return two years later. Speaking in an interview with El Pais (via MD), Laporta explained that he felt he had been vindicated.

“I had to make a decision, and I think I made the right one; the results speak for themselves. We were able to turn the club’s finances around, we built a competitive team, and it was time for a generational change. Leo was nearing the end of his career, and we needed to build a new team. Would I have liked to build a new team with Leo helping out? Yes. We tried, but it wasn’t possible.”

Messi has stated a desire to return to Camp Nou at some point, but it seems unlikely that he will do so while Laporta is in charge.

“The future relationship will be whatever Leo wants and whatever Barca wants. At some point, their interests will converge again. Messi is a generational icon: Kubala, Cruyff, and Messi. He deserves a statue and a testimonial match. Barca is his home.”

Laporta on officiating and Negreira case

Another major talking point over the course of Laporta’s mandate has been officiating, with Real Madrid and Barcelona both claiming to be disadvantaged by the refereeing in Spain.

“I’ve always felt that we should be far superior, because the referees don’t favour us. Here it seems they always help Real Madrid. They have a Barcelona bias, it’s obvious.”

In Real Madrid’s case, they continue to reference the ongoing sporting corruption accusation that Barcelona are defending themselves against, the so-called ‘Negreira case’. Laporta has consistently asserted that it has no basis.

“It’s more of an institutional smear campaign that, fortunately, hasn’t been successful. It’s driven by interests originating in Madrid. Every time the case is about to be closed, they present inconclusive evidence. But the judge, to demonstrate that he has handled the proceedings properly, is forced to extend the investigation for another six months.”

The case centres on payments of €7-8m made to former Referee’s Committee Vice-President Jose Maria Enrique Negreira over the course of 17 years.

“They’re trying to fabricate a lie that the referees favour Barca over Real Madrid, and with that, they’re trying to discredit the most glorious period in the club’s history, which began with Rijkaard and continued with Guardiola. Now they’re criticising us for hiring someone who had been vice president, while they’ve had referee committee presidents linked to Real Madrid. They’re criticising us for hiring a company where the vice president’s son worked. It was a professional scouting and refereeing consultancy.”

Laporta denigrates Victor Font campaign

On the elections earlier this month, Laporta did not hold back on the campaign run by rival Victor Font.

“It was a thrashing, and they deserved it. They played dirty. They filed a complaint full of falsehoods and then made statements that sowed doubt, like saying they were going to sign Haaland.”

Laporta is referring to a complaint filed against him and a number of his fellow board members, accusing them of money laundering and fraud. The complaint was dismissed, but Font has denied any link to the plaintive.