Barcelona president Joan Laporta has been cleared of involvement in the Negreira referee scandal, as reported by Marca.
The court ruled in Laporta’s favor, dismissing claims that he and his board made payments to Jose María Enriquez Negreira, former vice president of the Technical Committee of Referees (CTA), between 2008 and 2010.
However, former Barcelona president Sandro Rosell did not receive the same outcome.
His appeal was rejected by the court, leaving him implicated in the alleged payments alongside former presidents Maria Bartomeu, Oscar Grau, and Albert Soler.
Barcelona are yet to comment on the decision regarding Laporta but did release the following statement on the matter last week: “FCB is satisfied with today’s ruling by the Barcelona High Court insofar as it confirms the approach defended by the Club and rules out the hypothesis of the alleged crime of bribery.
We maintain our conviction that through the courts we will be able to definitively clarify the facts that are the subject of the complaint and prove the Club’s absolute innocence.”
Laporta can now focus on his presidential duties, striving to restore Barcelona’s competitiveness both domestically and in Europe.
He has consistently emphasized that Barcelona has not engaged in any wrongdoing throughout the proceedings.