Athletic Club Fans to protest against Barcelona in their upcoming La Liga clash for the Negreira scandal using fake “Barca mafia” money
The Atletic Club fans are ready to make the most of Barcelona's current predicament as they get read to host them
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Athletic club's fans plan to protest against Barcelona. (Image Via- BBC)
Fans of the Athletic Club have prepared banknotes printed in the colors of Barcelona, with a ‘Mafia’ printed Barcelona crest. The fans of the Athletic club want to make a rain of these banknotes in the 30th minute of the match Athletic Club vs Barcelona, as a form of protest over the Negreira case.
The Negreria Case is about Barcelona paying around €1.4 million in total, for their players to be briefed on how to handle each referee. Barcelona allegedly between 2016 and 2018, had paid Vice President of the Technical Committee of Referees Jose Maria Enriquez Negreira. This was in exchange for the input of the players as to how to behave with each referee in order to have the best chance to receive favorable treatment.
Ever since the end of the regime of the former President of the club Josep Maria Bartomeu, Barcelona has been under constant attack both on and off the field. Apart from the departure of a few of their greats, including their then-captain Lionel Messi, and a very tight financial condition, they are also having quite a shaky form in European Cup competition. All this along with yet another new scandal from Bartomeu’s time at the office seems to be a Blast From The Past situation for the club.
The news of this scandal, in arguably a few of the toughest years of the Blaugrana, is not having a good impact on the hearts and minds of the millions of loyal fans of the club. With The La Liga Chief Tebas and a few other teams already clearing their thoughts on the referee scandal and the Spanish giants, only time can tell if Barcelona is guilty or if is there any other angle of the story that needs to be checked.
Barcelona President Joan Laporta Denies Barcelona Paid any referees amid Negreira saga.
Football club Barcelona president Joan Laporta insisted that Barcelona had “never bought any referees nor did they have any intentions to” right after the Negreira case was revealed. Barcelona is currently trying to avoid sanctions over the alleged referee scandal.
A month ago, broadcaster SER Catalunya alleged Barcelona had paid 1.6 million Euros to Jose Maria Enriquez Negreira’s company. Negreira was also the vice president of Spain’s Technical Committee of Referees (CTA) between 2016 – 2018.
The Spanish newspaper, El Pais claimed that Negreira’s company DASNIL 95 SL produced written reports and DVD assessments of the referees before the game. El Mundo alleged that Barcelona stopped making the payments once Negreira was no longer the vice president of CTA.
Until this moment, there has been a joint investigation by the Royal Spanish Football Federation (REFF) and the CTA. Even then, no evidence was found of possible corruption or any influence over the referees. Although, a probe into Negreira’s affairs by the prosecutor is still ongoing.
Barcelona President Joan Laporta, on Tuesday, was not very eager to talk about this subject when he was asked, while he was in a “lunch discussion”. But Laporta felt the immediate need to reiterate Barcelona’s denial of wrongdoing.
“We have prepared a press conference to talk about this topic, but today I have this lunch. Let me be clear, Barca has never bought referees nor had the intention to buy referees. Never.” Laporta said. Speaking emphatically about Barcelona’s non-involvement in the situation, he said, “The forcefulness of the facts contradicts those who try to change the story. We are doing well again, nothing is accidental.”
Laporta even seemed to suggest the scandal was part of a wider conspiracy to tarnish Barca’s reputation after their refusal to sign up to LaLiga’s deal with private equity fund CVC Capital Partners, who pledged €2billion in exchange for an 8.2 per cent stake in a new company that will receive revenue from the league’s broadcasting and sponsorship rights.
“There is a campaign to harm the interests of Barca. This is a campaign aimed at controlling the club. LaLiga does not accept that Barca did not sign the contract with CVC,” Lapota sneered.
Although, till now nothing is proven, so we all have to wait to know what truly happened, whether Barcelona is guilty or are they being framed, which might turn out to be a part of something much bigger. Only time can answer all these questions.
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Arpan Ghosh
(1403 Articles Published)