The former president of Barça Joan Gaspart is convinced that Barcelona has not done anything irregular in relation to its relationship with the company of the former vice president of referees, Enríquez Negreira. “Barça has not done anything immoral or anything irregular, their image cannot be stained. They have done the same as all the clubs in the world, gather information about the referees", explains Gaspart in conversation with 'La Vanguardia'.
According to Gaspart, during his time as vice president and as president (the latter between 2000 and 2003) there were no payments in this area. “A president or vice president is not always up to date with all the payments that are made in a club but in my time if this had happened I would have known. Therefore, it was not done during my time as president, ”he says.
The former president is categorical in his defense of Barcelona as an institution. “I cannot accept that the club's image is damaged because Barça has not done anything different from what all the clubs in the world do. All teams make referee reports. I was involved in soccer for 30 years and the coaches told the soccer players if a referee was dialogue or a card holder. Another thing is that the club would have paid for five penalties to be called in their favor and that has not been done ”, he extends.
Gaspart recalls that various clubs have former referees as delegates. “This is so, so I have to think that they talk to the referee on duty as a former teammate and pressure him to arbitrate in one way or another? Perhaps it is easier to misthink but I do not believe that this is the case”.
For the former Barça manager, it is becoming too big a mountain and he stresses that if Barcelona had crossed depending on which borders “it would have won all the Leagues and all the Champions Leagues in the last 20 years and it has not been like that. For example, the Federation sanctioned me for saying that a game had been stolen from me”.
Of course, Gaspart admits that the matter is thorny. "What can give rise to suspicion here is that it is about hiring the services of a former referee and his son through a company, but in the end, who knows the most about referees are the former referees." Gaspart concludes by saying that he excuses all the presidents of the club in this matter.
