Tebas, on the Negreiro case: “If Laporta doesn’t explain well, he should resign”

President of the League, Xavier Thebes, assured this Monday that if the president of Barcelona, Ivan Laporta, “It doesn’t explain well” everything about the Negreiro case, “I should resign”, he also revealed that there is “deep concern” among Spanish football clubs and asked to “go all the way” and “find a reasonable explanation”, which would could be “it’s a crime”.

“That Laporta You are not explaining well, you should resign. It is one thing to work with former referees, and another with the Technical Committee of Referees (CTA). “They will have to see why he did it. There are many seasons, with different directives, which theoretically did not say, I don’t know, I don’t like it at all – admitted Thebes in an appearance before the media.

The president of the employers’ association reported that there was “deep concern at most clubs, including Barcelona”, over the Negreira case. “Each club is free to publish their statements,” he said in relation to the statements of Sevilla and Espanyol, assessing the prosecution’s investigation into the alleged payments of the Catalan club to former CTA vice-president Enríquez Negreira. In addition, it contradicted the League’s collective statement.

Thebes expressed regret for the “reputational damage” the matter is causing to Spanish football and announced that it would cooperate with the prosecution from its active position. “We wrote a letter to the Prosecutor’s Office with some information that can help to clarify the facts. “If there was no prescription, we would have opened the file, but now it is illegal,” he said.

“We believe, with the information at this point, that further investigation can be conducted. The indications lead us to investigate, it is a criminal matter. For the criminal offense of sports corruption, a prison sentence of 10 years is prescribed, as the penalty of disqualification can be more than 5 years (from 2 to 6). You have to investigate it because the clubs want it that way, I want them (Barcelona) to make it easier for us,” he added.

And that is that Thebes claims the investigation must continue to “find a reasonable explanation.” “That maybe what was done was a crime. Until I see him testify (Negreira), I will be in an uncertain situation,” he admitted.

“I will not hide behind the clubs on this issue, we will follow the same line, I will not manage an institution where there are indications that I cannot investigate. There is a general uneasiness among the clubs,” he continued firmly, before confirming that he would appreciate reporting the matter to UEFA and FIFA. “We will have to do something, otherwise we would be inconsistent, even if it is a Spanish club. These are serious facts and difficult to understand,” he said.

Regarding Barcelona’s position presented during the Divisional Meeting this Monday, he said the Catalan club were concerned and that they “hope to have more clarity and go all the way” with their internal investigation. “They have not assessed whether it is right or not, they will wait for their investigation. We will not allow the club itself to investigate,” said Tebas.

“The (League) sponsors have not shown concern. What hurts is not doing or putting white on black. With the case of Osasun, some executives will go to jail, although it is more worrying, a lot of clarification is needed. Sponsors would be concerned that we are not working for research. It’s clear to them that we will go all the way, whether it’s a small team or Barcelona,” concluded the president of the League.