Shaken by the Negreira affair which saw the emergence of rumors of a potential ban from professional football this week, Barça has strong support in the person of Pep Guardiola. Member of the Catalan club’s first team between 1991 and 2001 – the year in which payments from Barça to the company of former referee José María Enríquez Negreira began – the Manchester City coach firmly dismissed the idea to have witnessed any attempt at corruption.
“Wait and see… This is what happened to us (at City) when everyone accused us of doing something wrong (accusations of financial offenses), confided the Catalan coach at a press conference. I have never seen or heard of Barcelona paying or bribing a referee. What I am sure of is that when Barcelona won, it was because we were better than our opponents, that’s all. When Barça was weaker, they did not win.»
