Barcelona have demanded that LaLiga president Javier Tebas step down following allegations that he provided false evidence against the club.
La Vanguardia reported that Tebas submitted documents to prosecutors in the ongoing Negreira case, which attempted to incriminate the club and two former presidents.
The case involves alleged payments of over €7 million made by Barcelona to a company owned by Jose Maria Enriquez Negreira, who was vice-president of Spanish football’s refereeing committee.
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Tebas’s documents were allegedly from an unrelated case and were decades old. Tebas denied the allegations, but Barcelona is calling for a full explanation and his resignation.
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“Barcelona, as president Joan Laporta has said in recent weeks, feel the victim of a media lynching based on events that have never occurred: Barca have never bought referees,” a statement read.
“It is not the first time the president of LaLiga has used his media machinery to attack Barcelona but, aside from his usual nonsense, we could never have imagined he would have hoped to incriminate our club with false evidence.
“The news published by La Vanguardia is of such severity that it should alert all LaLiga clubs, as they are practices that should have no place in the functions attributed to the president of LaLiga. For this reason alone, but also out of dignity and respect for the presidency of LaLiga, Mr. Tebas should resign from his position.
“However, knowing his obsession with persecuting Barcelona and constantly showing his aversion and antipathy towards our club, we understand that he will persist in his behaviour of continuing to harm our club.“