- Spanish football rivals Real Madrid and Barcelona are at it once again with the corruption allegations
- Barcelona are alleged to have been involved in several corruption cases paying match officials in the past
- Barcelona president Joan Laporta came out to defend the club but rather started lashing out at Real Madrid
- Real have since responded to Laporta through a four-minute video hitting at both Laporta and Barca
Following Barcelona president Joan Laporta’s ‘club of the regime’ claims, Real Madrid have responded with a four-and-a-half-minute video.
At a press conference on Monday, Barcelona president Joan Laporta defended his club against charges that it made payments to Jose Maria Enriquez Negreira, the former vice president of the technical committee of referees.
Barcelona is accused of paying former referee chief Jose Maria Enriquez Negreira for match official analysis and intelligence, with Spanish authorities charging the club with “continuous sporting corruption.”
The Blaugrana are the subject of a UEFA investigation, with Spanish prosecutors pursuing claims of possible corruption. Barcelona is accused of paying more than €7 million to a business owned by Negreira.
But at a long-awaited press conference, Laporta suggested that it was Real Madrid who have been historically favoured as they were ‘the club of the regime’ when dictator Francisco Franco ruled Spain from 1939 to 1975.
Laporta chose to focus on Real Madrid while saying his team had no case to answer, stating Real has been “historically and currently” favoured by arbitration decisions, tying it to previous Spanish dictator Francisco Franco.
“[Real Madrid] claims to feel aggravated in sporting terms by this. This comes from a club, as we all know, that has been favoured from refereeing back in history and still nowadays. A club that was regarded as ‘the club of the regime’ back in the days,” Laporta said.
Los Blancos responded with an unusual and lengthy video exposing Barcelona’s ties to Franco, which was broadcast on social media and Real Madrid TV.
The video initially asked, “Who is the regime’s team?” before drafting its case, in direct response to Laporta’s comments.
“The Camp Nou was inaugurated by Franco’s general minister, Jose Solis Ruiz,” the video stated.
“Barcelona made Franco an honorary member in 1965… presented him with awards on three occasions.”
The video also highlighted Barcelona’s achievements in comparison to Madrid from 1939 until his death in 1975, as well as how his management saved the club from bankruptcy three times.
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