Ex-Barcelona president speaks after testifying in Negreira case: ‘Won all those titles on own merit’ | OneFootball

Earlier today, former Barcelona president Josep Maria Bartomeu, along with Sandro Rosell, Oscar Grau, Albert Soler, and Jose Maria Enriquez Negreira’s son, Javier Negreira, were summoned by the court to testify on the Negreira scandal.

The issue, relating to a payment of €7 million to the former vice-president of the Technical Committee of Referees (CTA) between 2001 and 2018, questions whether the payments were made to bend decisions in Barcelona’s favour during the aforementioned period.

While it is true that the payments were made, the club strongly state that they were for routine refereeing reports, which are a normal part of the game.

Bartomeu speaks to the media

Speaking to the media after testifying in front of the judge, former Barcelona president Josep Maria Bartomeu commented on how it was a win for the club that the situation of the payments was clarified and that it had nothing to do with bribing referees.

“We have testified, some of us who were involved in the club from 2013 to 2018. Today, it has become clear that many of the theories that have been put forward over the last two years have been disproved.”

Elaborating on what the payments were actually made for, the former president said,

“It was clarified that there were advisory services, referee reports, and guidance both before and after matches, for both the first and second team, and that at that time there was financial compensation to be paid.”

Bartomeu testified in court today in the Negreira case. (Photo by Juan Manuel Serrano Arce/Getty Images)

A school of thought regarding the scandal stated that Negreira’s departure from the federation had to do with his son being informed that he would stop providing reports to Barcelona at the end of the season in 2018 season.

Bartomeu, however, made it clear that there was no such link.

“It has also become clear today that there is no connection between Mr. Enriquez Negreira leaving the Federation and his son being told, in the first quarter of 2018, that he would stop providing services to Barça at the end of the season.”

“The theory that one was the consequence of the other has also been dismissed,” he added.

Finally, the ex-president made it clear that all the titles Barcelona won at that time were purely out of merit.

“President [Sandro] Rosell also stated that at that time, the best team in the world, Barça won all those titles on their own merit. Barça had great successes, we had the best player in football history, and we won deservedly.”

Source: Mundo Deportivo