Laporta calls Real Madrid’s UEFA complaint a tantrum and distraction

After delivering his inauguration speech to mark the start of his new presidential term, Barcelona president Joan Laporta dismissed Real Madrid’s complaint to UEFA over the Negreira case, insisting the club has nothing to fear. He told reporters that his confidence in Barcelona’s position remains unchanged. Real Madrid, referred to as the Merengues, sent a detailed dossier of refereeing decisions they believed had favoured Barcelona, linking those decisions to the Negreira case. The complaint requested disciplinary action against Barcelona. Laporta described the move as little more than a tantrum and repeated his belief that the complaint will not achieve the outcome Real Madrid hopes for. He said, “They won’t get their way.” He added that Barcelona knows UEFA’s stance on the matter, calling the complaint “just another tantrum on their part; they’re trying to drag this out to justify actions that make no sense and won’t succeed.”

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Laporta noted the case is now before the ordinary courts and that Barcelona has already submitted evidence in the proceedings. He claimed the opposing parties have not provided anything. According to Laporta, the complaint is designed to divert attention from issues affecting Real Madrid itself. He suggested it helps generate media attention while shifting focus away from the club’s ownership model and problems with the Santiago Bernabeu, quipping, “This has served them well in stirring up a fuss and diverting attention from other issues. Their efforts to become a public limited company, and other matters that aren’t going quite to plan, such as the fact that there won’t be any music and they don’t know where they’ll have to park.” The dispute follows remarks by Real Madrid president Florentino Perez, who called the Negreira case “the biggest scandal in the history of world football” and said UEFA could not allow football to remain under suspicion of corruption. Barcelona had previously warned, while Rafael Yuste was acting president, that it would pursue criminal defamation proceedings if Perez did not retract those statements. Despite the latest escalation between Spain’s two biggest clubs, Laporta made clear he remains convinced Barcelona’s position is secure and that Real Madrid’s latest complaint will not change the outcome.