FC Barcelona president Joan Laporta claimed that there is an organized campaign to destabilize the Catalan team, stressing that he has great confidence in Barcelona’s acquittal in the Negrera bribery case.  Laporta gave an interview to Catalunya Radio after being charged with bribery in the Negreira case. The FC Barcelona president defended his innocence and that of the club, which he reassured, and lashed out at what he called "sociological madridismo". The judge in the Negreira case decided to summon Joan Laporta as a person under investigation for alleged bribes from FC Barcelona to the former vice-president of the referees. The reaction of the president of FC Barcelona did not take long and on Thursday morning he went on Catalunya Radio to give his version of events. In his interview, the leader assured that the payments responded to a completely legal relationship and that the reports were beneficial to the team. "I will be very strong to defend the interests of the club," he said.
"Those reports were useful because they were used for sporting purposes and we have proved it, those reports were documented. The judge has not proved that Barca was favoured because it is not true. Knowing him, I expected the accusation, but I am confident that the sentence will be favourable to the club," said Laporta, who insisted in his defence: "I can document all the payments of my period, which were also audited. From a factual point of view, we have proven it, and from a legal point of view, we are proving it. The part accusing Barcelona of bribery or corruption cannot prove it". A key part of Laporta's speech was to point the finger at the eternal rivals, whom he considers to be responsible for discrediting the club. "There is an organised campaign to destabilise Barcelona. It is a ferocious and unprecedented campaign that takes advantage of the Negreira case", assured the president, who insisted: "There is a sociological madridismo that is very strong, against which we have fought and won. The sociological madridismo suffered the president of probably the best Barca in history". "It's a big challenge to fight with sportsmanship against sociological madridismo. We are used to it. It's in the media, in political sectors, in sporting authorities... and we have to accept it as normal. But as 'Cules' we have to fight, and we have won, against this. They panic about a winning, admired and loved Barcelona", he added: "They have taken advantage of the Negreira case and have even appeared. They sully the name of Barca and our history. They want to control us," concluded the Catalan chief.