Barcelona president Joan Laporta responded to Real Madrid president Florentino Perez’s recent statements against the Catalan club, in which Perez claimed that Barça was involved in the biggest scandal in football history with the bribery case of former referees’ committee vice-president José Luis Negrera.
Perez launched a new attack on Barcelona on Monday, saying that the Negrera affair undermines integrity in Spanish football and that the authorities should intervene and restore the rights of the affected clubs instead of trying to close the case.
Laporta mocked Perez, accusing him of being obsessed with Barcelona, pointing out that this ultimately benefits his club and leads to Real Madrid’s loss, not its gain.
Laporta said in this regard, “What I see is that they are suffering from a Barcelona obsession, which has become a severe obsession with Barcelona and has begun to take root in the hearts of Real Madrid fans.”
He added, “The rhetoric has changed because of the Super League project’s failure. We’re focused on reaching an agreement with UEFA, which I believe is best for European football. Barcelona is seeking peace, while others don’t seem to be looking for it.”
He concluded, “It’s good that they keep talking about Barcelona from the capital. They have a severe obsession with Barcelona, and we can’t do more than that. All they want is to keep dragging this out to justify something that hasn’t worked for them.”
It’s worth noting that Barcelona was the only club remaining, along with Real Madrid, in the Super League project before Laporta decided last year to reconcile with UEFA. This caused a furious reaction from Pérez, which perhaps explains his constant attacks on the Catalans in recent months.
