Barcelona club president Joan Laporta strongly responded to the statements made by Florentino Pérez, president of Real Madrid, about the Negreira case, which were made five days ago during the general assembly meeting of Real Madrid members.

Laporta said in his speech: "Real Madrid's statements were offside and clearly show a case of Barca-phobia. They talk about Barcelona to justify baseless matters. They keep blowing up the Negreira case even though they know there is nothing against us. Barcelona has never bought a referee in its history."

He added: "Generally, referees have not benefited Barcelona; the team that has benefited from refereeing throughout its life is Real Madrid. Last week is a clear example: they scored two goals that should not have been counted, one where Bellingham touches the ball with his hand, and the other where Vinicius causes Iñaki Peña’s nose to break. These two goals should not have been awarded, and if they had not been, Barcelona would now be leading the league."

Laporta also rejected any doubt cast on the club’s golden era titles: "There is an obsession with attacking the best era in Barcelona’s history. From 2004 to 2015, we were the best team in the world, the most recognized and admired. They are looking for excuses because they did not like our dominance. We were the most distinctive and dominant, and there is no need to create fake narratives."

He continued regarding the club’s relationship with Javier Tebas: "I have disagreements with Tebas, but he is a noble person and bears enormous pressure. Our relationship with him is normal; it is not a privileged one. Real Madrid is in conflict with La Liga’s association, and they seem obsessed with removing him. If they try to overthrow him, it is because they want to put someone else in his place, and the question is: who do they want to put?"

The Barcelona president concluded his speech by directly criticizing how Real Madrid manages its relationship with refereeing: "Real tries to influence referees every week through their TV channel."