Laporta accuses Real Madrid of prolonging Negreira case to push Barça narrative

Barcelona president Joan Laporta has again escalated the club’s war of words with Real Madrid, accusing the Spanish giants of becoming involved in the Negreira case in order to prolong the controversy and reinforce what he described as a narrative promoted by Real Madrid’s television channel.

Speaking in a recent interview, Laporta insisted that Barcelona would not accept what he considers a distorted version of events.

“We cannot accept the truth being distorted.”

Laporta then turned his criticism towards Real Madrid’s involvement in the case, claiming:

“Real Madrid got involved in the Negreira case. We believe they did this solely to drag the case out and justify the narrative pushed on their TV channel.”

The Barcelona president linked the dispute directly to the deterioration in relations between the two clubs, adding: “That’s why our relationship is where it is today.”

The comments come amid an increasingly bitter institutional conflict between Barcelona and Real Madrid. The rivalry has intensified around the Negreira investigation, which concerns payments made by Barcelona to companies linked to José María Enríquez Negreira, the former vice-president of Spain’s refereeing technical committee.

Real Madrid has publicly pursued the matter, while Laporta has repeatedly defended Barcelona and rejected accusations that the payments were intended to influence refereeing decisions.

The dispute has also moved beyond public statements and into the legal arena. A conciliation hearing involving Florentino Pérez and Barcelona is scheduled for November 25 following Barcelona’s legal action over statements made by the Real Madrid president.

Laporta’s latest remarks underline just how far relations between Spain’s two biggest clubs have deteriorated as the Negreira controversy continues to dominate their institutional rivalry.