Josep Maria Bartomeu once again came out in defense of his management of Barcelona. The former president denied, in interviews with ABC and Culemania, that he had ruined the club and was critical of some of Joan Laporta's decisions and actions.
Complaints
"I was recently meeting with several lawyers and they told me that I am a unique case in the history of Spain, because I am in five complaints for economic crimes and in none of them does anyone accuse me of having put my hand in the box. No one accuses me of having enriched myself, no one. They don't even investigate it, or if they have investigated it they have not found anything".
I am a unique case in the history of Spain, because I am in five complaints for economic crimes and in none of them does anyone accuse me of having put my hand in the box
Bartomeu
Mossos performance
“No, it was not normal. It is not normal and then, talking to lawyers and people in the judicial world, everyone told me that this had never happened before. Moreover, it is so serious that even the Provincial Court of Barcelona issued a statement saying that they had not given any order to arrest anyone in the Barçagate process, having given the order to make reviews or searches but in no case had given order of arrests or to spend a night in the dungeon, and that is why they made that statement. It is very strange that the Mossos did this on their own. It is a subject that someday we will talk about. Now we are on other issues, but it is not normal that some of those who participated in these arrests, or in this investigation, some ended up working at Barça after a few days, or weeks… it is not normal what happened at that time. I am talking about a commissioner, I do not remember the names now… some commissioner who was involved in these arrests and, after a few weeks, started working at Barça.”.
The actions of the Mossos were not normal, and it is not normal that some of them ended up working for Barca
Bartomeu
Neymar case
"It is agreed with this lawyer that if there is conformity he would receive 10% of the money that Barca could save and reaches an agreement for 5.5 million instead of the 22.5 million fine".
Negreira Case
"I think it will be coming to the end of the investigation. I declared a few weeks ago and explained that during my tenure I had paid Javier Enriquez, the son of Negreira, as compensation for some reports. I do not see that there is any crime. There is no buying of referees, nor of matches, this is not true. I did not know that Negreira was behind the reports made by his son. Javier Enriquez was a reputable professional who worked for many clubs, for many people in sport, but no, I did not know that the father, Enriquez Negreira, was a partner in the company. They are scouting reports, they are provided, there is nothing to suggest that this is for the purchase of referees or matches, not at all."
Real Madrid
"All football clubs, not only in Spain, make refereeing reports. At Barca this was already being done for a long time. When I arrived with Rosell, Javier Enriquez made reports and we thought it was correct, because it is something that the club did regularly and that was decided from the sporting area. In the case of Madrid, for example, it has hired a former referee who is the husband of the woman who leads the refereeing of women's football and is also a referee informant. Well, I think it's fine as long as they act professionally and that there is no, say, relationship beyond marriage."
I didn't know that Negreira was behind the reports his son was doing
Bartomeu
Losses
"They swelled. They swelled. And it's not me saying it, it's the audit. The losses were 283 million euros and when Barcelona presents its accounts to the tax authorities, it reduces those 555 million to 283 million. There is so much insistence that the losses are 555 million that LaLiga is forced to apply these figures and they load the financial fair play."
Reasons for inflating losses
"In 2021 they present a guarantee to be able to be directors when they win the elections and I think they think about inflating the losses in that year and then, if nothing happens, undo them the following year, be able to present profits and remove the guarantee."
I think Laporta's board is thinking of inflating the losses in that year and then, if nothing happens, undoing them the following year, being able to present profits and get rid of the guarantee
Bartomeu
Your relationship with Laporta
"He sued me over the Forensic issue… He filed a lawsuit with the Prosecutor's Office over eight or nine issues. A few weeks ago I went to testify and only on two of those eight issues did they ask me because there might be a crime. One is the payment to Club Laietà of 1.5 million euros and the other is the payment of a fee to the lawyer Gonzalez Franco of 1.7 for the case of conformity in the Neymar 1 case. Of everything else, which amounted to more than 30 million according to the complaint, the Prosecutor's Office has not entered. So, of course, it would be very difficult to sit down with him… If we talk it would be to say: 'why do you do these things'?".
Ruin
"I've heard it many times, but it's not true. It's part of a very self-serving narrative by the current board that I can accept for a year or two, but it's been more than five and a half years and they're still saying the same thing. So I say bluntly, 'no'."
Causes of the crisis
"Covid had affected Barca by more than 500 million euros. There is a problem, but Barca is not ruined. That is part of the self-serving narrative. Barca needed management and new income. What is true is that Barca today has not yet overcome this situation and this is one of the handicaps that the club currently has. Barca suffered from Covid, like most big teams in Europe, and that meant that during those 18 months it stopped earning around 500 million euros. This is a big blow and I'm not saying it, it's in LaLiga's reports. We as a club depend little on television rights, perhaps 25% of our income. The rest are other activities such as the museum, the football schools, the shops, ticketing… and this fell dramatically because of Covid."
Wage bill
"We received a series of reports that there is another club that is preparing 400 million to pay Messi's clause. We sat down with Leo and his father and proposed to them to make a renewal with an increase of the clause to 700 million and that is what was signed. Messi was renewed for an amount of salary that seemed very logical, especially for what he gave, both sportingly and economically, because if they paid 222 for Neymar they could pay 400 for Leo and we did not want to lose him in any way."
I don't understand why they let Messi's contract run out, they should have renewed it before
Bartomeu
Messi's departure
"I was surprised and saddened because Messi had not yet finished his football or his relationship with Barca and I was very sorry because the club needed him and the team too. I will never understand his departure because Messi was willing to make the economic sacrifice that was necessary to continue at Barca. I will not understand why they let his contract end, they should have renewed it before."
Messi-Laporta relationship
"If someone fires you and you don't want to be fired, the relationship may be bad."
