Barcelona has demanded the resignation of LaLiga president Javier Tebas after it was alleged that he provided false evidence against them.
According to a report from La Vanguardia published on Monday, Tebas provided prosecutors with documents that purported to implicate the club and two former presidents in the ongoing Negreira case.
It has been claimed Barcelona made payments in excess of €7million to Jose Maria Enriquez Negreira’s company – DASNIL 95 SL – for written reports and DVD assessments of referees for the club prior to games. The payments were allegedly made between 2001 and 2018, when Negreira was vice-president of Spanish football’s refereeing committee.
According to the report, the documents issued by Tebas were part of another case, not linked to either of Barcelona’s former presidents and were decades old, something the LaLiga chief called “false” on social media.
However, Barca are keen for a deeper explanation from Tebas and want him to issue his resignation.
“Barcelona, as president Joan Laporta has said in recent weeks, feel the victim of a media lynching based on events that have never occurred: Barca have never bought referees,” a statement read.
“It is not the first time the president of LaLiga has used his media machinery to attack Barcelona but, aside from his usual nonsense, we could never have imagined he would have hoped to incriminate our club with false evidence.
“The news published by La Vanguardia is of such severity that it should alert all LaLiga clubs, as they are practices that should have no place in the functions attributed to the president of LaLiga. For this reason alone, but also out of dignity and respect for the presidency of LaLiga, Mr. Tebas should resign from his position.
“However, knowing his obsession with persecuting Barcelona and constantly showing his aversion and antipathy towards our club, we understand that he will persist in his behaviour of continuing to harm our club.”