Laporta, on the Negreira case: "The history of Barça does not get dirty"

The echoes of the Negreira case, of course, were also very present in the assembly of Barça delegates this year. In his speech, the Barça president, Joan Laporta, once again recovered the concept he resorted to this week, that of “sociological Madridism”, as part of his defense and was especially belligerent..

«The history of Barça does not get dirty. I am referring to the most ferocious and reputational attack that we have received: the Negreira case. It is a smear campaign, we cannot allow it. No matter how much you search and slander, you will not find anything, because we have not done anything of what we are accused of.. There were some technical-arbitrial reports, with invoices and transfers. The judge's hypothesis is that this money was to buy referees, and we proved that it was for arbitration advice. Some of us are trying it and the others cannot do it,” said the Barcelona top leader.

«They don't want Barça to be more than a club. You have to go to Madrid a lot for work and that's how you realize that there is a sociological Madridism in all the centers of power: political, economic, media and sports.. In my first term I already fought against it and they didn't have a good time. Now, they attack us because they see that the president who made them suffer is once again in charge of the club.. They are not interested in talking about their power, which is permeated in all areas. They are the promoters of trying to control us, harm us and, if they can, destroy us. Sooner rather than later, everything will end with a sentence that will absolve Barça. I have bad news for sociological Real Madrid fans: we will repeat the best Barça in history,” Laporta harangued, pointing out the recovery of the entity under his command as the great trigger for the accusations.

«Together we have saved the club, despite the obstacles put in our wheels from outside.. They attack us because we are doing well again. Sportingly and economically. We are returning to sporting excellence. We have a young team, with many youth players, with much more value in the market and more sustainable than the one we inherited. And I don't just want to talk about football: last season we won all six leagues. It is unique. And the women's Champions League also deserves a separate chapter,” he explained.. «Economically, we are doing much better. We arrived when the 2020/21 season was ending and what we did was save the entity, which then had a debt of 1,350 million euros, most of it in the short term, with 455 million of negative net worth. We made brave decisions and saved the club. And without touching the partners' pockets. Today we present a profit of 304 million euros, higher than what we approved a year ago, with record figures in the commercial area,” he assured.

The delegates, in a fundamentally telematic assembly, with only the president, his board, the members of the commissions and the senators, that is, the oldest members, present in the room, approved with a large majority the numbers presented by the board, despite the fact that the number of participants, once again, was much lower than desirable in an event with such importance for the government of the entity. Thus, the approval of the settlement of the 2022-23 season, closed with profits of 304 million euros largely thanks to the application of the famous levers, took place with 376 votes in favor, 45 against and 20 blank. issued by the 462 delegates accredited at that time. The approval of the budget for the current year, which foresees income of 859 million euros and profits of around eight million, despite the fact that the first team must play in Montjuïc and largely also thanks to the containment of invested spending in sports salary mass, meanwhile, took place with 372 votes in favor, 37 against and 12 blank, counted out of a quorum, at the time of the vote, of 437 delegates.