“I put my hands in the fire,” Gerard Pique defends Barcelona in Negreira corruption case
Barcelona's former player and captain reportedly defended his club and said he is quite sure that Barcelona are not at fault here .
Follow Us
Gerard Pique has reportedly defended his former club Barcelona and said'""Barça have not bought referees, I put my hands in the fire." (Image Via-
Former Spain defender Gerard Pique has reportedly given his opinion on the Barcelona-Negreira case. Pique, in a recent interview, defended his former club FC Barcelona. Pique reportedly said “Barça have not bought referees, I put my hands in the fire. If you want to buy a referee, you do it on the ‘black market’, not by declaring invoices, and leaving evidence of payments…”
Speaking to RAC1, in an interview carried by Marca, Pique reportedly said that he personally had no knowledge of the matter, nor of the scouting reports on referees that Jose Maria Enriquez Negreira was supposedly providing. Pique reportedly said, “I didn’t know anything. This is more for the coach and technical staff. The players already know the referees, the coaches may come from abroad and may need help. I don’t know if the job was to be an assistant… We were not involved and we had no knowledge [of it]. I have not met him or his son.” Pique went on to say that according to him Barcelona never bought any referees.
For Pique, none of it made sense. In his mind, paying the VP of the CTA was a silly way to go about bribing officials if they were going to do so. Pique said, “You go with dirty money and that’s it, things are simpler than going to the vice president of the CTA and pay him a salary. It doesn’t make sense. The conspiracies and campaigns… we’re used to it.”
Although it would not be the first time a Barcelona board has struggled to come to a sensible decision. Pique reportedly went on to defend his former club and said the titles won during that period was legitimate, and there was no reason to doubt that.
In case you missed: Luis Enrique and Ernesto Valverde can face enquiry in the Barcelona-Negreira scandal
Pique’s response to Real Madrid’s stand in the Barcelona-Negreira case
In the Marca interview, Pique was asked about his feelings over Real Madrid’s stand in the Barcelona-Negreira case. Pique reportedly said ,”Real Madrid taking a stand against Barça in the Negreira case? I understand why they had not taken a stand against Barça and I understand why they are doing so now.”
According to Pique, it is the pressure of the fans that has made Real Madrid take a stand against Barcelona. Pique said he feels that it’s just noise and nothing more. Pique reportedly said, “All the clubs except Madrid had taken a stand against Barça, Madrid was the only one that didn’t. I understand that in the end, they are doing it, I suppose they are under a lot of pressure”.
Real Madrid’s stand, in this case, has been very sceptical. They reportedly were one of those very few teams who didn’t take a stand against Barcelona. Although after the Public Prosecutor’s Office, reportedly filed an official complaint against Barcelona in the court, Real Madrid hierarchy officials called a board meeting urgently. And after the board meeting, Real Madrid declared they would officially be at the court taking a stand against Barcelona like most other teams.
Whether it was due to the fans or due to the internal discussions, the reason is still unknown as to why Real Madrid changed their stand. All that is left to be seen is whether Barcelona is innocent of the charges that are being allegedly put against them. Or are the rumors of the scandal actually true?
Stay Updated!
Arpan Ghosh
(1403 Articles Published)