The sacred union. Even if in France and internationally this Negreira affair has faded a little, it continues to make headlines in Spain. Every day, the media reveal new elements on this soap opera, which originated, as we recall, in the payment of several million euros from Barça to José María Enríquez Negreira, then vice-president of the Spanish referees committee, and this for several years. A particularly difficult file to follow, to the extent that new pieces of the puzzle emerge every day, but one thing is certain: Barça defends itself from any accusation of corruption. The Catalans defend that these payments were used to obtain reports on the way of refereeing from each Liga referee, and that there was never any attempt to influence anything.
For its part, justice continues to investigate and Joan Laporta was recently implicated in this case. Obviously, the current president of the reigning Spanish champion took care to defend himself, refuting any involvement with negative connotations in this story. Still, the Catalan club is currently in full swing damage control. On Wednesday, the Barcelonans published a press release in which they explained that the last five presidents of the club, who have all had problems with the law, met. Joan Laporta, Sandro Rosell, Josep Maria Bartomeu, Enric Reyna and Joan Gaspart had dinner together with the aim of showing a strong face and establishing a line of defense for a club which is, according to them, too targeted in the media .
Barça facing the Madrid plot
The five men therefore developed a plan to defend the club in the media, and they discussed it again at this famous dinner on Tuesday. Which can also explain why Joan Laporta has been so active in the media in recent days. “There is a sociological madridism in the spheres of power which has always existed and which took advantage of the “Negreira case” to try to tarnish the image of the Club. Real Madrid are terrified that we will once again suffer the effects of the best Barça in history, that we will win again, that we will be admired again for the way we play and loved for what we do. The years go by and they see that Barça is doing better and that the President who was in the best Barça in history is the same. The current coach was the midfielder of this team. This sociological madridism draws parallels and that is why they are the promoters of this plot”, went so far as to launch Joan Laporta. A very clear message: Real Madrid is using – via “its” media – the Negreira affair to harm Barça.
A fed-up internally which, again, divides Barça supporters a little. Many side with their president. A charismatic man and very comfortable in his speeches, he does not hesitate to do everything possible to defend the interests of Barça. Others believe that a little self-criticism would not be too much, and that the club should not necessarily fall back into its failings of the 90s or 2000s, in which it often developed a sort of complex towards his sworn enemy. Just like Laporta must not fall into populism. Regardless, this story is far from over and Barça has chosen its strategy: occupy the media space as much as possible and point the finger in the direction of Real Madrid.
