The arbitration group came out this morning in a whirlwind in defense of the honorability of Spanish arbitration in an act organized by the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) in the Ciudad del Fútbol de Las Rozas in which the Secretary General of the Federation, Andreu, was present. Camps, and the president of the Technical Committee of Referees (CTA), Luis Medina Cantalejo. Both defended vehemently that there is no arbitration corruption and that if someone committed any illegality, they should pay for it in court with the utmost severity.
More than 200 referees, including active and retired members, supported their leaders. An international arbitrator, the Murcian Sánchez Martínez, read a statement on behalf of all in the same sense as what was expressed by Medina Cantalejo.
The president of the referees was the most vehement: "What has happened is a shame that must be cleaned up. I put my hand in the fire for my colleagues then and those of now. Also for Victoriano Sánchez Arminio (the president of the CTA with Enríquez Negreira active). If Victoriano had had the slightest suspicion of Negreira, he would have put him on the street, but what could we suspect? In eleven seasons in the First Division, no one gave me any lectures on how to referee any match. Besides, to have happened, this would know. The honesty of the referees is out of all doubt", commented.
Andreu Camps recounted everything that the Federation has done since the scandal was uncovered on February 15. Camps recalled that the first thing Luis Rubiales had done when he became president of the Federation in May 2018 was to renew the entire CTA (Negreira was the vice president).
When Camps was asked if Barcelona could be sanctioned and even demoted as a result of the investigation, the vice president of the Federation washed his hands: "I limit myself to gathering the information and collaborating with everything. I am not a competition judge, nor discipline, nor am I in the integrity department".
Medina Cantalejo was also asked what he thought about Barcelona not being awarded any penalties in 78 days while Enríquez Negreira was vice president of the CTA: "We can't get into that. It would be because there weren't any, period. Negreira barely had competitions in the CTA. I didn't get paid from the referees, I got paid from a club. I can only say that neither I nor any teammate have ever received instructions for something like that. I suppose they didn't call penalties on Barça because there simply weren't any", he pointed.
The Federation does not see well that an arbitrator, Xavier Estrada Fernández, has denounced the case in a court in Barcelona. Andreu Camps explained that "we preferred that the Prosecutor's Office investigate, which is the one with the means. If the case is admitted, we will appear in it." Camps also confirmed that UEFA has collected information from them and that they have sent it what is available.
Later, he elaborated on the same thing: "The entire legal group of the Federation understands that what must be done is to let the Prosecutor's Office carry out its work. That is why they have not sued Negreira, as Estrada Fernández has done. The lawsuit has not been still admitted for processing. If it is, we have said that that day we will appear".
Medina Cantalejo also confirmed that a referee had not collaborated in the investigation opened by the CTA without wanting to mention names, although he was asked about whether the referee who had not answered is Estrada Fernández: "He has not answered or given any information. On the other On the other hand, I have never felt that someone has looked at me as if I were a delinquent. I no longer bother to convince anyone if I would whistle a penalty or not depending on the team".
In his speech, Andreu Camps stated that "the Federation has been able to verify that there would be someone knowing the facts first hand (the payments to Negreira by Barcelona) and they did not denounce them when they had governmental responsibilities and are studying whether any responsibility could be derived and if a lawsuit could be filed.
When Camps was asked if he was referring to Albert Soler, a sports manager who has been both the general director of sports for the CSD on two occasions, Secretary of State for sports and also an executive of FC Barcelona at another time, the Secretary of State for the Federation did not want to give specific names. "I have not referred to any specific person nor am I going to do so. What we cannot and must not do under any circumstances is disseminate any information that has not first been brought to the attention of sporting, governmental or judicial bodies. In a state of In law there are rules and principles that must be respected, such as prudence in complex situations like the current one," he added.
