Barcelona president Joan Laporta has defended the club's controversial payments to former refereeing chief Jose Maria Enriquez Negreira, insisting allegations of bribery and corruption are simply part of a 'smear campaign' against the club.
Payments between Barcelona and a company owned by Negreira from 2001 until 2018 have prompted all sorts of questions over the club's conduct and the validity of their La Liga title victories.
Barcelona have always maintained their innocence, insisting the payments were for nothing more than advice from referees and certainly not to influence any decisions from the officials, and Laporta reaffirmed that stance during a lengthy presentation on Monday.
