Barcelona president-elect Laporta attacks Real Madrid: ‘They have links with presidents of referees’ committees’ | OneFootball

Relations between Barcelona and Real Madrid hit rock bottom towards the end of Joan Laporta’s last presidency term, and rightly so given the Negreira scandal and all it did to the perception of Spanish football.

Florentino Perez and Co. took a clear stance against Barcelona on that front, even being directly involved in the investigation to get to the root of the problem.

Meanwhile, Laporta’s presidential term came to an end and Barcelona headed into fresh elections. The former president has now been re-elected to the post and he has returned with the same feeling of vengeance towards Real Madrid that he left his last term with.

Laporta lashes out at Real Madrid

The newly re-elected Barcelona president spoke to the media (h/t AS) where he opened up on the club’s relations with Real Madrid, especially given the ongoing tensions over the Negreira scandal.

“It’s been a long time (they don’t talk). Since their appearance in the Negreira case, the relationship has deteriorated,” he began.

Laporta has once again hit out at Real Madrid. (Photo by Alex Caparros/Getty Images)

Elaborating on the club’s decision to leave the Super League, a move that left Real Madrid alone in the project, Laporta said,

“We decided to leave the Super League due to a lack of object: it was not materializing, and we had already told them.”

“In addition, UEFA was taking measures to improve the sustainability of football in Europe,” he added.

Speaking on Real Madrid and the stories of them being favoured by referees, Laporta did not mince his words, saying,

“I have always had the feeling that we should be very superior, because the referees do not favour us. Here it seems that they always help Madrid. They have ‘Barcelona-itis’, it’s evident.”

Elaborating on the Negreira scandal and how he was sure it was all a fabricated claim, he added,

“Now they criticize that we hired someone who had been vice president, while they have had presidents of the referees’ committee linked to Madrid.”