'Campaign to discredit the club': Laporta denies any crime in refereeing scandal

Joan Laporta, president of FC Barcelona soccer club, said on Monday all payments made to a company owned by a senior refereeing official were transparent and came in exchange for advisory and not to get any illegal sporting advantage. A Barcelona court agreed to take on the case last week after prosecutors filed a complaint over what they alleged were payments of 7.3 million euros ($7.95 million) from 2001 to 2018 to firms owned by Jose Maria Enriquez Negreira. Laporta said there was a media campaign to discredit the club.