Barcelona president, Joan Laporta has insisted that the club “never bought referees or influence.”
Laporta’s comments follow the revelation of payments to Jose Maria Enriquez Negreira, the former vice president of the refereeing committee.
Barca paid Negreira’s company around €7 million between 2001 and 2018.
The payments between 2016 and 2018 totalling €1.4m are the subject of a tax office investigation into Negreira’s earnings.
Laporta initially claimed the payments were for “technical reports on refereeing.”
On Tuesday, he reiterated that Barcelona did not pay for anything else.
“We will give a news conference on it soon. But Barca never bought referees or influence. That was never the intention and that has to be clear. The facts contradict those that are trying to tell a different story,” Laporta said.
