Josep Maria Bartomeu He came out again this Monday in defense of his management at the head of the Barcelona. The former Barça president denied, in an interview in ABChaving ruined Barça and was critical of some decisions and actions of Joan Laporta.
Complaints
“I recently met with several lawyers and they told me that I am a unique case in the history of Spain, because I am involved in five complaints for economic crimes and in none of them does anyone accuse me of having had my hand in the cash. Nobody accuses me of having enriched myself, no one. They don’t even investigate it, or if they have investigated it, they haven’t found anything.”
I am a unique case in the history of Spain, because I am involved in five complaints for economic crimes and in none of them does anyone accuse me of having touched the cash register.
Neymar case
“It was agreed with this lawyer that if there is agreement he would receive 10% of the money that Barça could save and reach an agreement for 5.5 million instead of the 22.5 million fine.”
Negreira Case
“I think he will be reaching the end of the investigation. I declared a few weeks ago and explained that during my mandate I had paid Javier Enríquez, Negreira’s son, as compensation for some reports. I don’t see that there was any crime. There is no purchase of referees, or matches, this is not true. I did not know that Negreira was behind the reports that his son made. Javier Enríquez was a proven professional who worked for many clubs, for many people in sports, but no, I did not know that the father, Enríquez Negreira, was a partner in the company. They are scouting reports, they are provided, there is nothing that suggests that this is for the purchase of referees or matches, at all.
real Madrid
“All football clubs, not only in Spain, make referee reports. At Barça this had already been done for a long time. When I arrived with Rosell, Javier Enríquez made reports and it seemed correct to us, because it is something that the club did regularly and that was decided from the sports area. In the case of Madrid, for example, they have hired a former referee who is the husband of the woman who referees women’s football and is also a referee reporter. Well, it seems fine to me as long as they act appropriately. professionally and that there is no, let’s say, relationship beyond marriage.
I did not know that Negreira was behind the reports that his son made
Losses
“They swelled. They swelled. And I’m not saying it, the audit says it. The losses were 283 million euros and when Barça presents its accounts to the Treasury it lowers those 555 million to 283 million. There is so much insistence that the losses are 555 million that LaLiga is forced to apply those figures and they take out the financial ‘fair play’.”
Reasons for inflating losses
“In 2021 they present a guarantee to be able to be managers when they win the elections and I think they think about inflating the losses in that year and then, if nothing happens, undo them the following year, be able to present benefits and remove the guarantee.”
I think that the Laporta Board thinks about inflating the losses in that year and then, if nothing happens, undo them the following year, be able to present profits and remove the guarantee
His relationship with Laporta
“He has sued me for the Forensic issue… He filed a lawsuit with the Prosecutor’s Office for eight or nine issues. A few weeks ago I went to testify and only in two of those eight issues have they asked me why there could be a crime. One is the payment to Club Laietà of 1.5 million euros and the other is the payment of a fee to the lawyer González Franco of 1.7 for the case of compliance in the Neymar 1 case. For everything else, which added up to more than 30 million according to the complaint, the Prosecutor’s Office has not entered. So, of course, it would be very difficult to sit down with him… If we talk it would be to tell him: ‘why do you do these things’?”
Ruin
“I have heard it many times, but it is not true. It is part of a very self-serving narrative of the current board that I can accept it for one or two years, but more than five and a half years have passed and they continue with the same thing. So I say categorically ‘no’.”
Causes crisis
“Covid had affected Barça by more than 500 million euros. There is a problem there, but Barça is not ruined. That is part of the interested story. Barça needed management and new income. What is true is that Barça today has not yet overcome that situation and this is one of the handicaps that the club currently has. Barça suffered from Covid, like most of the big teams in Europe, and that meant that during those 18 months it stopped entering around of 500 million euros. This is a strong blow and I’m not saying it, LaLiga reports say it. We as a club depend little on television rights, perhaps 25% of our income is other activities such as the museum, football schools, shops, ticketing… and this fell sharply because of Covid.
Salary mass
“We receive a series of information that there is another club that is preparing 400 million to pay Messi’s clause. We sat down with Leo and his father and we proposed to make a renewal with an increase in the clause to 700 million and that is what was signed. Messi was renewed for an amount of salary that seemed very logical to me, especially for what he gave, both sportingly and financially, because if they paid 222 for Neymar they could pay 400 for Leo and we did not want to lose him no way.”
I won’t understand why they let Messi’s contract end, they would have had to renew it sooner
Messi’s departure
“I was surprised and saddened because Messi had not yet finished his football or his relationship with Barça and it felt very bad to me because the club needed him and the team too. I will never understand his departure because Messi was willing to make the financial sacrifice that was necessary to continue at Barça. I will not understand why they let his contract end, they would have had to renew it sooner.”
Messi-Laporta relationship
“If someone fires you and you don’t want to be fired, the relationship may be bad.”