Javier Tebas traveled to Barcelona and gave his explanations in the Enríquez Negreira case. The president of LaLiga was concerned about the information that appeared – “it is doing a lot of damage to Spanish football” – and insinuated that FC Barcelona could have been swindled by the Catalan ex-referee. "I would not be surprised as I see the circumstances," he explained.
The president of the employers' association has made his calls to try to ensure the neutral functioning of the competition. “I have asked the Appointment Committee for explanations. At that time, it was made up of López Nieto, Puentes Leira and Sánchez Arminio. I have contact with the first two, I have called them and they have told me that they had no pressure from Mr. Negreira in the appointments, ”he discovered.
Although the amounts and concepts of the payments made by the Barcelona club do not seem logical to him, Tebas supports the version of the referees. "I believe the referees," he said. So he gives credibility to Enríquez Negreira having deceived Barça. "It could be that this man was selling smoke and the naive Barça managers fell into the trap," he added.
It was not the last time that he slipped that interpretation during his press conference. “If the case reaches a court, LaLiga will be there. If Barcelona has been cheated, Mr. Negreira be condemned”.
The president of LaLiga made it clear that if he had known about the events in time, he would have intervened, because it would have been a case similar to that of Moggigate in Italy with Juventus. "If this, as it is happening now, was raised in 2019 when the crime was not prescribed, we would have immediately opened a disciplinary file," he said, whose punishments range from a verbal warning to a reduction in category. But when it comes to the 2016-2018 period, he has already prescribed for sports justice.
Thebes highlighted the difference between the clubs that have an arbitration advisor on the payroll and the Negreira case with Barcelona. “Of course you can have ex-advising referees but not that they are active in the Technical Committee of Referees. Because it's a clear conflict of interest. Mr. Negreira was active. That is the difference with Barça. I am not aware that any other club has an active adviser, ”he pointed out.
