Sevilla will not have any representative in the box at the Montjuïc stadium tonight in the match against FC Barcelona. The Andalusian team issued a statement this Friday afternoon in which they announced this decision as a measure of protest against the new news of the Negreira case. It is worth remembering that on Thursday the judge charged Barcelona and its former presidents Sandro Rosell and Josep Maria Bartomeu with an alleged crime of bribery for payments to former vice president of referees Enríquez Negreira.
“Sevilla shows its total indignation and rejection of the practices carried out by the former leaders of FC Barcelona accused of the Negreira case, practices that supposedly constitute a crime for the Court of Instruction number 1 of Barcelona, according to the order published in the media. ”argues the Seville club.
Sevilla “rejects” the behavior of the Barça club during the periods in which these crimes were supposedly committed and for this reason “has suspended the protocol acts corresponding to the LaLiga match this Friday, September 29 between the Barça club and Sevilla FC , and announces the absence of representation in the Montjuic stadium box.” Five Sevilla executives have traveled to Barcelona, including its president, José Castro, and vice presidents José María del Nido Carrasco and Fernando Carrión, but they will not be in the noble area of the Olímpic.
Likewise, Sevilla assures that it wants to show its "deepest respect for Barcelona members and subscribers, as well as for its current employees and leaders who work daily at FC Barcelona and who are indirectly involved in this cause."
The Sevilla team also says it respects the presumption of innocence and hopes that “for the good of the competition” all responsibilities in the Negreira case will be resolved in accordance with the judge's latest considerations.
Barcelona's response came a couple of hours later and also via statement. "Barça wants to publicly show its rejection of an unjustified and inappropriate attack by Sevilla FC, a club that today refused to sit at the table at the institutional meal prior to the match between the two teams at the Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys, where its representatives have refused attend the box."
Barça understands that this position by Sevilla, as well as the Andalusian club's statement, constitute "an attack against the Catalan institution and an unacceptable offense."
The Barcelona board also remembers that Laporta gave explanations about the Negreira case in a LaLiga assembly and accuses Sevilla of not respecting the presumption of innocence. "Sevilla's action is completely incongruous because on the one hand it cites the presumption of innocence and on the other it denies its exercise to FC Barcelona." Barça concludes its letter as follows: "Faced with this inadmissible and unjustified position of Sevilla, FC Barcelona considers all relations with the Sevilla institution broken to the extent that it does not rectify its current position."
