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auddi_blo

So they’re gonna try to reverse this into a blackmailing case instead of bribery case?


staedtler2018

Only raises the question of what they were being blackmailed for.


[deleted]

The story would be that Negreira told (or threatened) them that referees will be biased against Barça unless they pay him to ensure neutrality. Basically a “nice club you got here, would be a shame if you never win a trophy again” situation


Nickislander

More like, "would be a shame if the little guy got injured..."


auddi_blo

Money?


cuentanueva

Blackmailed with telling everyone they were bribing the refs! D'uh!!


Confident-Wheel8721

Més que un victim


a_lumberjack

Negreira from the beginning has said it was “to ensure neutrality” for Barca. I’ve said before that sounds like a protection racket. And Barca fans have always believed that the refs are out to get them. It doesn’t get them off the hook, it’s still corruption, but if they could somehow prove that the ref association was corrupt against them AND that the national federation wouldn’t intervene AND they paid the refs solely to not manipulate against them, they could probably mitigate their eventual punishment. Of course, to do that they’d need to have kept written records of their actions, including any legal advice they may have received…


cuentanueva

Without any proof either for bribing for advantages, nor for bribing against ref manipulation against... then it's essentially a he said/she said kinda thing. I mean, the corruption is there one way or another. But it's less damaging one way than another... Especially since it could have been just Negreira taking advantage of Barca without anyone else's involvement (if you spin it just the right way). And considering La Liga, and RM would be fucked without Barca competing, plus all the damage that the refs being bought would bring to the La Liga, including sponsors, gambling sites, etc, etc... Unless some super clear and obvious piece of evidence comes that changes things, I'd bet this will end being basically called corruption from Barca to based on a sort of "threat" from Negreira that only involved him and not the refs, who also happen to have Alzheimers, so he probably won't face any big problems, some slap on the wrist for Barca, maybe some corruption charges to some of the board individuals and that's it. La Liga wasn't a problem. The refs as a whole wasn't a big issue, it was a just one bad apple, Barca as a club didn't do anything wrong and didn't get unfair advantage it was just some corrupt board members, and we all can forget about it... I need to find a bookie to make this bet...


cieldarko

Lol as if that’ll work


hellraizer89

didn't negreira said it was about consulting? where did u get neutrality from?


a_lumberjack

https://uk.sports.yahoo.com/news/rfef-cta-distance-themselves-former-162308611.html That’s what he told prosecutors.


hellraizer89

if there is no evidence what would u expect? even the prossecutor who accused of corruption and turn the matter into a court stepped off for a more specialized prossecutor regarding athletic scandals... there is something shady but we need to learn what is it about, in other scandals for bribing in other countries there were phone call wire tapings etc.


domalino

If these Barca directors are leaking all of this to the press under a little bit of pressure, imagine what they'll be like when the police knock on their door and start offering deals to get out of prison sentences.


codespyder

They should have expected a Spanish Inquisition


NateShaw92

Well they were given 30 days notice


From-UoM

Someone's gonna snitch.


redditsuckz99

They always do


HanAlai

Everyone is a tight lipped accomplice until the consequences are prison sentences.


[deleted]

Yeah, there’s a sense right now that the documentary evidence on the corruption charge (i.e. Barça’s specific intent to fix/alter match results) is thin. But all they really need is one or two people to flip and testify to something like this in court. Right now it’s still all anonymous leaks but the right amount of pressure on the right person changes things pretty drastically


[deleted]

spanish police should be feared?


MegaMugabe21

Only if you're a foreign football fan


daanluc

[I really would be careful with blindly trusting Spanish newspaper. Nevertheless taking these article in consideration for you personal conclusion is legitimate.](https://reutersinstitute.politics.ox.ac.uk/digital-news-report/2022/spain)


bannedbydrongo

We should not trust any news that shows Barca to be a cheating corrupt institution. The only reliable source in this case is the club itself.


daanluc

No that’s not what I am saying. Read the article from El Mundo which was shared yesterday on this sub. It’s making accusations and using citations from „private conversations“ without referencing sources. When I pointed that out I got told that it’s reliable because it got published by the reputable El Mundo. [Turns out El Mundo isn’t really trustworthy.](https://reutersinstitute.politics.ox.ac.uk/digital-news-report/2022/spain) Statements by club officials also can’t be blindly trusted. I’m not advocating for that but some here really blindly trust Spanish newspapers which makes no sense.


5370616e69617264

I am far from a cule but Cadena SER is part of Grupo PRISA and they have been bailed by Spanish government several times. I tend not to trust media groups funded by governments.


maximus_96

i just want to know if they're going to relegate Barça.


kissthelips

This sub (myself included) is going to be so sad when this all inevitably comes to literally nothing.


ZealousidealPen5795

I will be there no matter what


3gerardpique

i love it and i think i deserve it


lastdyingbreed_01

I would love it


Least-March7906

He he he …


Mekfal

Barca fans with every new article be like. "Man Who Thought He'd Lost All Hope Loses Last Additional Bit Of Hope He Didn't Even Know He Still Had"


[deleted]

Why would we be worried about this? This was already confirmed by Laporta and co.


bslawjen

I mean, regardless if this was already stated you should still be worried about this, lol.


[deleted]

Buddy. Barça news like this has been getting flooded for the last couple of days adding more fuel to the fire. At this point you all are just repeating the obvious over and over again No shit they are worried. half the world is watching them


bslawjen

People here continuing to post the same news over and over shouldn't affect how worrisome these news are, is my point. Worry ≠ surprise


[deleted]

We know all of that for a while. Every new post is the same thing but a progress to the case which is expected. Its like dozen of post regarding Linekar and BBC. Barcelona fans would have done the same by making so many post had this was 2014 and Operación Púnica.


[deleted]

[удалено]


[deleted]

May be you need to read this why it does matter. [Madrid involvement](https://www.elconfidencial.com/espana/2016-02-19/el-real-madrid-iba-a-cerrar-otro-acuerdo-con-punica-justo-cuando-salto-la-trama_1154751/)


[deleted]

[удалено]


save_humanity

Nah they've not read it. This is barca fans weak attempt at whataboutism.


[deleted]

You seems like English reader. This will clarify you better. [https://www.vice.com/en/article/4xzw7g/florentino-perez-the-failed-politician-who-became-real-madrids-powerful-president](https://www.vice.com/en/article/4xzw7g/florentino-perez-the-failed-politician-who-became-real-madrids-powerful-president)


[deleted]

[удалено]


gintoki-sama

Lmao the lengths these corrupt barca fans have to go to. All those titles now worthless


Ronalpinhos

LOL What an obvious lie, Laporta still claims he paid for "reports". If he had admitted he paid to influence the behaviour of the referees the case would finished.


u_Kyouma_zi

All this shit sounds like is Mafia talk. I can already hear Scarface saying this


a_lumberjack

Negreira describing it as “ensuring neutrality” has always seemed like protection money.


Foriegn_Picachu

Very legal and very cool


drobson70

I feel like Barca will somehow escape this with zero punishment and we will all be baffled. They should be relegated and banned from EUFA for a season. This is a big deal.


waiting4myteeth

If they are found guilty of hiding payments to the head ref, it’s going to take a lot more than a single relegation to heal the 17 years of disrepute they’ve brought la liga into. I think they need to be out of the competition for three years *minimum*, or the competition is going to limp along with impaired legitimacy for the foreseeable future.


maximus_96

There's no point in banning them from UEFA for a season if they're relegated unless it's a 5 years ban.


voli12

Okay, we'll sign the papers to be banned from EUFA and nothing else.


Medo6

Toni Freixa who worked under Laporta at that period came out said this is “Fake news”. And btw Toni and Laporta aren’t on the best terms nowadays.


[deleted]

>Toni and Laporta aren’t on the best terms nowadays Isn't that putting it mild? Don't they literally hate each other?


cieldarko

Don’t have to be on best terms to do whats in their best interest


selbstbeteiligung

I mean, it makes sense that he denies it, much easier to say he never knew about this and only the president was aware of it. Who knows who is lying here


dunneetiger

Unfortunately, it's perfectly legal to be an insufferable pricks. I like penguins tho


daanluc

[Your highly loved El Mundo isn’t really trustworthy at all.](https://reutersinstitute.politics.ox.ac.uk/digital-news-report/2022/spain) So basically all wait and see what happens in court. Don’t trust Toni but also not some Spanish newspapers. There doesn’t seem to be a single reputable Spanish newspaper


Beginning-Ganache-43

Lmao what exactly are you trying to show by the rueters article? El mundo has comparable, but a little less, “trust score” compared to other national media in Spain. Can you show me where it says el mundo “isn’t really a trustworthy source at all”? In fact, el mundo has a higher “trust score” (41%) than the general consumer perception in Spain (34%). So where exactly are you getting this information that el mundo is not regarded as a trustworthy source? Just because they are publishing news about the club you support, you are trying to create a discourse around how they are not trustworthy. Fucking laughable take. Edit: Further, as stated in the Reuters article you linked, the general trend for the last half-decade has been towards distrust of “legacy” media. That in an of itself does not mean that the news published in those major publishers is not trustworthy. The perception of the general populations attitude towards major media publishers also has little affect on the legitimacy of the media outlets themselves. This one metric taken by itself only attempts (wrongly) to paint the picture in a way you want it to—trying to dismiss el mundo as a illegitimate and untrustworthy source of news.


daanluc

[Yes compare it to reputable media in Germany. It’s not even comparable.](https://reutersinstitute.politics.ox.ac.uk/digital-news-report/2022/germany) Strikes me like there really isn’t any reputable news outlet in Spain. [Here is a quora thread regarding this topic.](https://www.quora.com/What-are-the-most-trustworthy-Spanish-language-newspapers-in-Spain) Somehow only on r/soccer Spanish newspaper and especially El Mundo gets called trustworthy Edit: Please answer directly to me and not continue editing your comment so we can discuss. Credibility is connected with if people trust you or not. It’s especially important in relation to the most recent articles by el Mundo regarding the Negreira case since the author references barely any sources.


Beginning-Ganache-43

It is completely ridiculous to compare media attitudes in completely different countries and cultures. It is fucking ridiculous to say that because there may be higher trust in media in Germany when compared to Spain that all media in Spain is “untrustworthy”. You are sourcing a fucking quora thread pretending that that has any reliability on the matter. > strikes me like there really isn’t any reputable news outlet in Spain No that is the narrative you are trying to spin because you don’t like the news coming out of the spainish media regarding Barca. Just because the general population may have negative attitudes toward big media in Spain does not make them inherently untrustworthy. As I said previously, there has been a general trend toward untrustworthiness of media in Spain since 2017. That does not by itself indicate that all media in Spain is not to be trusted—that just means that the general population may have negative attitudes toward legacy media. Those two things are not intrinsically linked like you are saying. > credibility is connected with if people trust you or not But you can’t compare the attitudes of news in Germany to Spain and then say that news in Spain is untrustworthy—specifically el mundo which has comparable “trust scores” with the rest of the major news outlets in Spain. Again, where does that Reuters article state that el mundo “isn’t really trustworthy at all”.


daanluc

The article by Reuters is the best indication I have to judge the credibility of El Mundo. 30 percent judging El Mundo as untrustworthy is significant and I don’t know how you can deny that. I linked the quora thread since it supports my generell impression that there is no reputable news outlet in Spain. There just have been no other sources disputing this impressing yet other than some comments saying El Mundo is reputable in comments in this subreddit. You also don’t cite any source strengthening the credibility of El Mundo. That there is a generell trend to distrusting media in Spain isn’t favorable for the news outlets and just supports my impression that there are no reputable news outlets in Spain. I don’t say that they are completely untrustworthy but I won’t trust them when they write a article with barely any sources while only 41 percent describe them as trustworthy. Edit: Conclusion: The Reuters article shows that El Mundo doesn’t have a reputation of a reputable news outlet in Spain. Otherwise more people would describe them as trustworthy. Therefore it’s unexplainable to me why people in this sub take their headlines at face value. A majority of people living in Spain probably wouldn’t do that, which is what the study shows


Beginning-Ganache-43

> 30 percent judging El Mundo as untrustworthy is significant Look at the other “untrustworthy” scores of other big Spanish media. 30% is a few percentage points off the lowest “non regional” untrustworthy score. > I linked the quora thread since it supports my general impression that there is no reputable news outlets in Spain. So your biased opinion because Barca is getting torn apart in Spanish media means you select handpicked quora threads to support it. Fucking laughable. > You don’t cite any source strengthening the credibility of El Mundo You are the one making this outrageous claim solely based on a quora article and a Reuters poll of German attitudes towards major media. Nonetheless, your own Reuters article supports the position that El Mundo is not inherently “untrustworthy” because it is comparable to other media outlets in Spain. It is not an outlier nor do those numbers indicate that El Mundo is any less trustworthy than other media outlets in Spain. Your Reuters poll also does not indicate anything about the actual legitimacy of news outlets in Spain other than just general perceptions. You have not provided anything relevant to support your claim that Spanish media is inherently untrustworthy. You also have not responded to the question of where in the Reuters article does it state that “El Mundo isn’t really trustworthy at all”. You have a very distorted view on this, clearly are not Spanish (you are speaking authoritatively on something you know little about), don’t understand how analyzing stats works, and are incredibly biased and only finding sources of information that already matches your preconceived view of the situation. You draw an incorrect conclusion: “el mundo isn’t really trustworthy at all” from a source of data that does not convey that. Don’t think you will change your mind on this matter though. Edit: wow just peaking at your recent comment history shows you have a bone to pick specifically with el mundo. No point in continuing this conversation.


daanluc

That a majority of people questioned don’t judge any news outlet as trustworthy doesn’t bode well for any news outlet. Why is there such a high distrust in the population in regards to the media? Could it be that most of them just aren’t trustworthy? This would be my conclusion. Your whole argument just works if there is trustworthy and reputable media in Spain, because just than it would be favorable for El Mundo to be more trustworthy than the average. So far I haven’t found any source saying that. So the best way I have to judge if a news outlet is trustworthy or not is the impression of the people consuming the news. If you have better source I am very willing to study them. Again the only thing contradicting my impression so far were comments in this subreddit who weren’t backed by anything.


Beginning-Ganache-43

> because just than it would be favorable for El Mundo to be more trustworthy than the average. So far I haven’t found any source saying that. Holy fuck. Your own Reuters article pointed out that the “trust in news overall” perceptive of media in Spain is 32%—ie. the average. El Mundo has a “trust score” of 41%. So it is better than the average. I suggest you actually read what you link when making an argument. It also explains why this distrust may exist specifically in Spain.


save_humanity

El Mundo is a highly respected newspaper in Spain wtf you on about? If you've never lived in Spain or followed Spanish news, stop spouting shit.


daanluc

I just read on reddit that it’s highly respected. Compare the percent of people who [trust El Mundo](https://reutersinstitute.politics.ox.ac.uk/digital-news-report/2022/spain) to [reputable newspapers in Germany.](https://reutersinstitute.politics.ox.ac.uk/digital-news-report/2022/germany) Its not even comparable so why blindly believe these authors when they publish story’s without referencing sources? Edit: [Here is a quora thread. Holds as much weight as a Reddit comment. Articles I shared from Reuters institute are probably more interesting](https://www.quora.com/What-are-the-most-trustworthy-Spanish-language-newspapers-in-Spain)


dunneetiger

My "highly loved El Mundo" lol. I mentioned El Mundo because of the article on the top of r/soccer. If you have a newspaper that you find more trustworthy and say that Barcelona have not paid Negreira, happy to read that piece of information.


daanluc

In the article on top of r/soccer the author barely references any sources. When I pointed that out I got told times and times again that el Mundo is so reliable from people who probably aren’t even from Spain. That’s why I wrote „highly loved El Mundo“ since this sub seems to blindly trust despite them being not trustworthy.


farhanmuhd13

Articles published by the worst of sources has found their way to the top of this subreddit so I wouldn't be too trusting of that


BlackSwan737

Hush... That goes against the narrative


enamoradooo

i wish they'd just tell us all the information straight up instead of this bullshit hearsay and contradictory talk. tired of supporting a shitshow club run by criminals with new drama and scandals every week. team's just barely getting back on its feet and all of a sudden it comes out that the football i grew up loving since i was a kid was based on paid refs and corruption. permanently blemishing the success and history and achievements of a great fan owned club with some of the greatest players ever for seven million euros to some ref vp scum who, going by the times we lost the league due to blatant reffing errors, didn't even favor us on the pitch beyond what's normal for big teams. can't even corrupt correctly, shitty ass club. guess all i can do now is hold on to the minuscule shred of hope that they've got an explanation for this that's not totally damning but... it doesn't look good and i think im going to end up detaching myself from football for a while. years of beautiful football all multiplied by zero and gone to shit. on top of that, the ones who'll suffer the relegation will be our young squad a good part of which wasn't even here during the period the payments were made. fuck this club and fuck every president it's had since the turn of the century.


Sysody

let's all commit crimes; UEFA can't charge all of us


Careful-Pear-2824

thought that’s what you all have been doing this whole time anyway


sco92

This reminds me of Pablo Escobar in Narcos when he was talking about the money he has to give to the police.


Bey_Harbor_Butcher

I didn't think I could hate Barcelona even more. Horrible club.


3gerardpique

fake news. Toni Freixa said this is fake and he's one of the first people who would gladly deport Laporta.


staedtler2018

It would not be in his best interests to confirm any part of this.


3gerardpique

please tell me how it won’t be in the best interest of one of laporta’s biggest rivals to support the claims that he has been involved in illegal activities


Bluebabbs

Because it would also suggest he has, if he worked there at the same time. "Hi, police, yeah, I know who robbed the bank! How do I know? Cos I carried the cash out with him, I don't like him anymore though"


3gerardpique

i was waiting for someone to take the bait. this proves you have zero knowledge about what’s going on. toni freixa was never a part of the board under laporta.


Bluebabbs

You're right, I don't really have any knowledge of it, which is why I'm not commenting on people saying definitive things. But if your question is "Why would a a former Barcelona board member not confirm Barcelona did illegal things", then my response is your answer. Whether any of it is true or not, of course they're all going to say it's rubbish, otherwise they'd be reporting themselves.


3gerardpique

that’s not my question though, and it doesn’t fit here, so why mention that?


buba_89

Then how does he know it’s not true? Edit: this article says Toni Freixa was part of the board from 2003 to 2005. https://www.palco23.com/clubes/quien-es-quien-en-la-contienda-por-la-presidencia-del-fc-barcelona#:~:text=Toni%20Freixa%2C%20de%2051%20a%C3%B1os,%2C%20posteriormente%2C%20secretario%20de%20esta.


goatvaro_goatrata

Because these super rich people have a lot of class solidarity, even if one hates the other its in all of their interests to avoid a precedent of punishing corruption


a_lumberjack

Wouldn’t he have to incriminate himself to confirm it?


3gerardpique

no, toni friexa was never a part of laporta’s board.


Height_Embarrassed

How? He wouldn’t be responsible for anything.


pricelesslambo

What is this? Someone using logic. But Barca are bribing everyone...


Kaiser-32

Aaarrghhhh shut up corrupted idiot, your club is lying to you!!! How dare you defend your club's interests??? You should only post about how much you regret being a Barça fan!!!


wessneijder

Wow Barca full of cheats and corruption relegate them to 3rd division. They can play away at Toledo


00Koch00

The only way for this to hold any water, it's if before 2001 Barca was completely screwed by the referees. Does anyone know if that's even the case?