Barcelona - guilty until proven innocent?
It was at 15:22 CEST on Tuesday when Joan Laporta said the following: Let it be clear that Barca have never bought referees nor had the intention to buy referees. Absolutely not. The strength of the facts contradicts those who try to change the story. We are doing well again, nothing is accidental.
If we are to believe Señor Laporta, that nothing is accidental, then El País must have been waiting finger poised over ‘Publish’, given they would dynamite the news cycle in Spain at 15:34 CEST, just 12 minutes later. Their scoop was that the Spanish Prosecutor’s Office were preparing to officially denounce Barcelona, submitting charges of ‘continuous corruption’ between the club, former President Josep María Bartomeu and José Enríquez Negreira.
It had seemed a relatively quiet start to the week, after the previous three involved a series of leaks from El Mundo, statements from La Liga President Javier Tebas and retorts from Laporta. Not wanting to be left out, later that evening El Mundo, would report that Negreira had offered his ‘services’, about which there is already plenty of speculation, once again in 2020 – ‘I can help you with VAR. Contact me if you are interested’. Barcelona did not reply, but the implication is that Negreira felt that he could influence the matter, and two years after his business relations had ended with Barcelona, was still punting those ‘services’.
‘Indications of corruption’ are what the State Prosecution believe they have on Barcelona, and certainly it’s a conclusion that many finding impossible to avoid. There is evidence of Barcelona paying Negreira’s company Dasnil 95 €6.7m over the course of 17 years, supposedly for scouting reports and reports on referees while he was in position as Vice-President of the Referees Committee. Barcelona have thus far been ruled out of sporting sanctions by LaLiga, but the club could face consequences, the four Presidents involved (Joan Gaspart, Laporta, Sandro Rosell and Bartomeu) could face jail time.
In terms of influence, the only real power Negreira was supposed to have had was to decide which referees were promoted or demoted from the league. Equally, it is curious that he did not take salary for his position, and when his relationship with Barcelona ended, he threatened to reveal all of the ‘irregularities’ he had knowledge of. Carlo Ancelotti has stated that he has absolute faith in the referees’ integrity, but there are enough unexplained events to raise his eyebrow above his silvery hairline.
Laporta promises there will be an explanation. Barcelona will give a press conference detailing all of the information uncovered in their own internal but outsourced and independent investigation. He seems adamant that this is merely the latest in Tebas’ war on the Blaugrana, caused by his dislike of Laporta, the rejection of the CVC deal, the Superleague project, and various other gripes.
As more and more information is continually leaked, no doubt in the most scandalising manner possible, it is very hard to prevent the mind drifting off down the path of those indications. Those not tied to Barcelona will follow the natural course of the human mind, the path of least resistance. With only the one side of the story, Laporta’s statements ring hollow without an alternate version of events – the longer that takes to arrive, the less convincing it becomes.
Meanwhile in Andalusia, Sevilla ultra group the Biris Norte should be worrying about their relegation six-pointer at home to Almería on Sunday, which may or may not decide Jorge Sampaoli’s future. It speaks to the magnitude of the issue that they will be protesting not their board, their sporting director, their manager or the players, but the ‘inaction’ of LaLiga and the RFEF over the Negreira Case, showering the pitch in fake bills.
This press conference promises to be the second in two years to send shockwaves through the world of football, after Laporta bid farewell to Barcelona’s greatest ever player Lionel Messi two Augusts previously. Ahead of that, Barcelona can retain a shred of credibility and the chance to preserve Spanish football as a mirror of the idea of capitalist society – grossly unbalanced in favour of the big fish, but theoretically under the same rule of law. That concept has been blurred increasingly of late, and the Barcelona’s presidents will have to work to prove they are cleaner than Spain’s politicians.
While the court of law works under the presumption of innocent until proven guilty, the trial by public opinion is well underway. Some jurors have irrevocably made up their mind already. It might be enough for Barcelona to escape those charges with a verdict of ‘not proven’, but increasingly it looks as if they will have to prove their innocence, in order to avoid condemnation by the wider world.