Barcelona accuse Sevilla of launching ‘unjustified and inappropriate attack’ on the club MINUTES before the sides’ match in LaLiga after their opponents express ‘outrage’ over Negreira Case

Barcelona released a statement minutes before their match against Sevilla accusing their opponents of launching an ‘unjustified and inappropriate attack’ on the club.

The two Spanish teams went head-to-head in LaLiga on Friday evening, with Barcelona hoping to return to the top of the table after dropping points against Mallorca in midweek.

But before what appeared to be just another match in Spanish football, the Catalan club denounced Sevilla for what they called ‘an attack on the Catalan institution and an unacceptable foul’.

It is claimed that Sevilla refused to attend an institutional lunch with directors and that its representatives refused to take a seat in the directors’ box at the Estadi Olimpic Lluis Companys, where the club played their home games.

Barcelona’s statement was in response to a statement from Sevilla, which said their actions were linked to the ongoing investigation into Barcelona’s alleged bribery of referees, which the club has denied.

The statement was released minutes before the two teams started their LaLiga match on Friday evening

The club has been accused of bribery in relation to the club’s alleged payments of millions of euros to the Spanish vice-president’s referees’ committee.

Barcelona’s full statement read: ‘FC Barcelona wishes to publicly demonstrate its condemnation of the unjustified and inappropriate attack of Sevilla FC, after the club today refused to attend the institutional lunch with directors ahead of today’s match between the two teams, the Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys, where its representatives have also refused to take their place in the driver’s box.

‘In addition, the Andalusian club has published a statement expressing its “indignation and condemnation over the practices of former FC Barcelona directors mentioned in the Negreira case” and announces its absence from the directors’ box for today’s match.

‘FC Barcelona considers this an attack on the Catalan institution and an unacceptable offense.

‘The above-mentioned Negreira case cannot be used as an excuse for such measures as the legal case is at a very early stage and Sevilla FC’s position clearly anticipates the facts that have yet to be established in any form.

‘Moreover, the legal decision announced today does not in any way change the legal and factual position of FC Barcelona in the process; it is legally questionable; it does not come from a solid foundation and will be appealed by the Club.

‘In addition, the president of FC Barcelona, ​​​​Joan Laporta, appeared in an extraordinary meeting of LaLiga and called for this specific case, where he provided extensive clarifications and explanations on this matter.

‘The position of Sevilla FC therefore appears illogical, as on the one hand it ignores the presumption of innocence and on the other hand it denies FC Barcelona the right to defense in the legal proceedings currently underway.

‘In light of this unacceptable and unjustifiable position of Sevilla FC, FC Barcelona considers that all institutional relations with the Seville institution have been severed until their current position is restored.’

Barcelona denies any wrongdoing or conflict of interest regarding an ongoing investigation and says it paid for technical reports on referees but never tried to influence their decisions (photo – president Joan Laporta)

The judge investigating alleged payments by Barcelona to the vice-president of Spain’s refereeing commission has ruled that current president Joan Laporta and two other former presidents could face trial for bribery.

Barcelona paid Jose Maria Enriquez Negreira a sum of €7.3 million between 2001 and 2018 for what the club claims were reports about referees. He was vice-chairman of the refereeing committee at the time and had influence over which referees were promoted to officiate top matches and which were demoted.

According to documents obtained by Spanish media, the investigation by judge Joaquín Aguirre concluded that it was “logical” to understand that Barcelona were trying to buy influence.

Negreira was the vice-president of the Spanish Football Federation’s Referee Commission and is therefore considered a civil servant during the time payments were made to him.

Sevilla had released their own statement beforehand, saying they expressed their ‘complete outrage and condemnation’

As a result, Laporta and two other former presidents could be charged with bribery on the grounds that they bought favors from government officials.

Sevilla’s statement read: ‘We express our complete outrage and condemnation of the actions carried out by the former FC Barcelona officials indicted in the Negreira case, actions reportedly considered criminal by the Court of Instruction from Barcelona, ​​​​as stated in the Seville statement. court order circulated in the media.

‘We condemn the behavior of FC Barcelona during the periods in which these alleged crimes took place.

‘For this reason, we have suspended the normal protocol for the LaLiga match between FC Barcelona and Sevilla FC, scheduled for Friday, September 29, and we will not have representation in the VIP box of the Montjuic Stadium.’