Laporta, Ernesto Valverde, and Luis Enrique testify in the 'Negreira case'

Three new witnesses were summoned on Friday to the Ciutat de la Justícia in Barcelona to give statements on the 'Negreira case': president Joan Laporta and the Barça coaches between 2014 and 2020, Luis Enrique and Ernesto Valverde.

The three testified in the morning, although only the Barça president did so in person. Both 'Lucho' and 'Txingurri' attended the appointment with justice via telematics, from Paris and Bilbao, respectively.

Laporta spent about an hour testifying before Judge Alejandra Gil, making it clear that President Joan Gaspart never spoke to him about the matter, nor did he have knowledge or control over the amounts paid to the former vice president of the Technical Committee of Referees (CTA), José María Enríquez Negreira. The reason is that, at that time (2003-2011), minor payments did not go through the Board.

Laporta provided details of the reports prepared by Negreira

Regarding the statement by the president of FC Barcelona, the program 'Què T'hi Jugues' on the 'SER' network assured that the leader provided details with extreme "argumentative solvency" about the club's relationship with the former vice-president of the CTA during his first term, as well as the content of the referee reports paid for by Barça.

According to Laporta, the only reports found correspond to the 2014-2018 period, because all club documentation is deleted from the archive every five years. In this regard, he explained that these reports "were in boxes at the back of a closet" and that he never had direct contact with José María Enríquez Negreira or his son, Javier Enríquez

The Barça president learned of the reports in 2003 and considered them "very elaborate documents" and, therefore, useful for the sports department, although the first-team coaches claim to be unaware of their existence and content.

Regarding the increase in payments to the former refereeing director, Laporta stated he was unaware of the reason, although he suspects it was due to the increase in matches and competitions played each seasonIn this regard, Jan reiterated that **Barça never aimed to profit from these reports** to alter the competition through interference in decisions or referee appointments

Luis Enrique and Ernesto Valverde Never Had Access to the Reports

Luis Enrique and Ernesto Valverde, for their part, agreed in their statements that they had not received the referee reports during their respective tenures at the helm of the Barça team. The Asturian, in fact, assured that neither during his time with the reserve team (2008-11) nor later with the first team (2014-17) was he aware of these documents.

"**It's already known that in football, when you win, they say the referees favor you, and when you lose, they say they're against you**," said 'Lucho' regarding possible favorable refereeing decisions for Barça during his tenure, a period in which the team won 6 national titles, including a couple of consecutive Leagues and three Copa del Rey in a row, in addition to a Super Cup.Valverde, for his part, stated: "neither I nor anyone on my staff were offered referee reports. Nor did I need them". He also denied having witnessed any refereeing favors during his two and a half seasons at Can Barça.

The 'Txingurri', however, admitted that Athletic also prepares similar reports, although it is something that does not directly concern the coaching staff. The Basque coach won two La Ligas, one Copa del Rey, and one Spanish Super Cup between the summer of 2017 and January 2020, when he was dismissed from his post.

Prior to Laporta, Luis Enrique and Valverde also testified, weeks ago, Josep Maria Bartomeu, Sandro Rosell, Òscar Grau and Enríquez Negreira's son, Javier Enríquez. For now, there is no evidence confirming refereeing favors to the Barcelona team while the club paid the former vice president of the CTA around 7.3 million euros (2001-2018)