Josep Maria Bartomeu has once again defended Barcelona’s management. In interviews with ABC and Cremania, the former president denied that he had ruined the club and criticized some of Joan Laporta’s decisions and actions.
Ramin Yamal shows leadership beyond his years after painful departure
complaint
“I was meeting with some lawyers recently, and they told me that this is a unique case in Spanish history, because I have been charged with five economic crimes, but none of them accuse me of filling the box. No one is accusing me of enriching myself, no one. They don’t even investigate, or if they do they don’t find anything.”
I am a unique case in Spanish history. Because I have been charged with five economic crimes, none of which have accused me of putting my hand in the box.
mossos performance
“No, it’s not normal. It’s not normal. Afterwards, when I spoke to lawyers and people in the judicial community, they all said that this had never happened before. Moreover, even the Barcelona Regional Court issued a statement saying that they had not ordered anyone to be arrested in the Balagate proceedings, and that although they had ordered investigations and searches, they had not in any case ordered them to be arrested or to spend the night in a dungeon. It is very strange that Mossos did this on their own, and now I will talk about another matter, but it is not normal that some of the people who took part in these arrests started working in Bala after a few days or weeks…I am talking about the Director, whose name I don’t remember now…
The Mossos’ actions were unusual, and it was unusual that some of them ended up working at Barça.
Neymar incident
“We agreed with this lawyer that he would receive 10% of the money that Barça would save if there was a fit, and we reached an agreement for a fine of 5.5 million instead of 22.5 million.”
Negreira incident
“I think the investigation is nearing its end. I declared a few weeks ago and explained that during my term I paid Negreira’s son Javier Henriques as compensation for some coverage. I don’t think there is any crime. I did not buy referees or matches. This is not true. Breathe. I didn’t know that Negreira was behind the reports by Javier Enriquez, who worked for many clubs and was a well-respected professional for many national sports, but no, I didn’t know that his father, Enriquez Negreira, was a partner in the company. They have submitted scouting reports and there is absolutely no suggestion that this is an officiating or game buying. ”
real madrid
“Every football club, not only in Spain, prepares a report on referees. At Barça, this has already been done for a long time. When I arrived with Rosell, Javier Henriques prepared a report and thought it was correct, because it is something the club regularly does. For example, in the case of Madrid, they hired a former referee who is the husband of the woman who leads the refereeing of women’s soccer and is also a referee informant.”Well, I think it’s fine as long as they act professionally and there is no relationship beyond marriage, for example.” ”
I didn’t know Negreira was behind the reporting his son was doing.
loss
“Inflated. Inflated. That’s not me saying, the audit says it. The loss was 283 million euros, and when Barcelona submitted its accounts to the tax authorities, that 555 million euros was 283 million euros. The claim that the loss was 555 million euros is so strong that La Liga will be forced to apply these figures and be subject to financial fair play.
Reasons why losses increase
“In 2021, they are offering a guarantee that if they win the election, they can become directors, but I think they are thinking of inflating their losses that year and if nothing happens, they will cancel the losses and offer profits the next year and release the guarantee.”
I think Laporta’s board is thinking of inflating the losses for that year and if nothing happens, canceling the losses the next year and offering a profit and waiving the guarantee.
Relationship with Laporta
“He sued me on a forensic issue… He filed a case with the public prosecutor’s office on eight or nine issues. A few weeks ago I went to give evidence, but because of the possibility of a crime, the prosecutor’s office only asked me about two of those eight issues. One was the payment of 1.5 million euros to Club Raye, and the other was the suitability case for the Neymar 1 case. He paid a fee of 1.7 euros to lawyer Zales Franco. Among everything else, according to the indictment, the amount is more than 30 million, and of course it will be very difficult to talk to him because the prosecutor’s office is not present… If we were to talk, we would say, “Why are you doing this?”
ruin
“I’ve heard it over and over again, and that’s not true. It’s a very self-serving piece of rhetoric by the current board that would be acceptable for a year or two, but over five and a half years later, they’re still saying the same thing. So I’m going to say ‘no’ straight up.”
Cause of the crisis
“The coronavirus has affected Barça by more than 500 million euros. There are problems, but Barça is not doomed. It is part of a selfish story. Barça needed management and new income. The truth is that Barça today has not yet overcome this situation, and this is what the club is currently facing. “Barça, like most of Europe’s big teams, has suffered from the coronavirus, which means that in those 18 months, around 500 million euros of revenue has stopped. “It’s a big blow, but that’s not what I’m saying, it’s what the La Liga report says. As a club, we rely very little on TV rights, with perhaps the remaining 25% going towards other activities such as museums, football schools, shops, ticket sales…but this has dropped dramatically due to Covid-19. ”
wage bill
“We received a series of reports that another club was offering $400 million to pay Messi’s contract. We spoke to Leo and his father and proposed a renewal with an increased bonus of $700 million, which was signed. His contract was renewed at a salary that seemed very reasonable for what he gave in terms of sport and finances, because if we paid Neymar $222, we could pay Leo $400. We didn’t want to lose him in any way.
I don’t understand why they let Messi’s contract expire, they should have renewed it before then.
Messi’s departure
“I was surprised and sad because Messi had not yet finished his football and his relationship with Barça. I was very disappointed because the club also needed him and the team. I will never understand his departure, as Messi was prepared to make the necessary financial sacrifices to continue at Barça. I do not understand why they terminated his contract. They should have renewed his contract earlier.”
Relationship between Messi and Laporta
“If someone fires you and you don’t want to be fired, relationships can go bad.”
