“Negreira did not paint anything, but a payment is something harmful”

“A lot of manipulated information has been given”

“There is a tremendous recession problem in LaLiga, the clubs are having a hard time”

MADRID, 5 May. (EUROPA PRESS) –

The president of the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF), Luis Rubiales, was “convinced of the honesty of the arbitration group” while pointing out that it will be shown that José María Enríquez Negreira did not have a relevant role within the Technical Committee of Referees (CTA), although he pointed out that they will go “to the end” in the payments of FC Barcelona between 2001 and 2018.

Rubiales answered from the La Cartuja stadium, in an interview with “El Chiringuito” collected by Europa Press, many questions about arbitration, in a complicated season with complaints from clubs every weekend, and about the ‘Negreira case’ that He has Barça in the spotlight and under investigation in the courts. “I have spoken today with Medina Cantalejo. He is very good, very strong. We know that there are criticisms and comments. There are mistakes that are made in all professions, you have to be humble,” he said.

“But there is an induced confusion. Issues that can be fixed with a comment, but that confusion is sometimes interesting. Football is passion, rage, when controversy is generated, that sells a lot,” he added, in a week in which the RFEF He once again asked the arbitration body for respect under the shadow of a possible strike.

Rubiales, who pointed out that in the Cup final he will go “with the referee”, repeated several times that Negreira “didn’t paint anything” in the Federation, nor did he make any important decision. “The Federation, since we arrived, in all the departments we signed a declaration of absence of conflict of interest. That there was a good government. This would not have happened, hide from the Federation that a person received money. They have the right to presumption of innocence, you have to trust and collaborate with justice,” he said.

“I am convinced of the honesty of the arbitration group. This man did not participate in the appointment of referees. Never in those years this man participated in anything. I have been a First Division footballer, that the referees were wrong, sure; but that it has come at that level it would be a surprise. A lot of manipulated information has been given,” he added.

In addition, Rubiales pointed out that he did not know José María Enríquez Negreira, vice president of the CTA who was paid by Barça according to the Public Prosecutor’s Office, a “flow of money” that the president of the Federation did condemn. “When this is over, if decisions have to be made, I will make them. That there are payments seems very ugly to me, but I want to see what has happened and I want to see it in court,” he said.

“I don’t like what has happened, the fact that he did not have a function does not exempt him from responsibility for a flow of money,” he added, although he insisted that Negreira, whom he fired upon his arrival at the Federation, had no decision-making capacity. . “It will be seen that he did not paint anything. Now it seems that everyone has to go to the wall,” he added, also forceful about Barça’s position.

“Even Barça fans agree that it is unspeakable and very negative (the payments). What has been done is an irregularity but we have to go all the way. The mere fact of a payment is something harmful, but you have to have patience,” he added.

The president of the RFEF began his television intervention on the pitch of La Cartuja, which will host the Cup final this Saturday between Osasuna and Real Madrid. “It’s a precious moment. A different match, you live with tremendous intensity, the king accompanies us. He enjoys himself a lot,” said Rubiales, lamenting with “frustration” the editions of whistles to the anthem.

In addition, the top leader of the Federation explained that the awarding of medals will be like in the women’s final, “at the foot of the track” because it is important “that it be fast” so that television viewers are not disconnected.

“THERE IS A TREMENDOUS LALIGA RECESSION PROBLEM”

On the other hand, Rubiales pointed to LaLiga to affirm that they are in a “recession” and that they look too much at the English model. “LaLiga has put the English model on the table, but we are going to compare everything, maybe they will run when they see what they have in England. I couldn’t come with a model and talk about this yes and this no. There is a problem of recession of LaLiga tremendous. The income go to less. The clubs are happening it bad”, explained.

“It’s been a long time since I entered the rag, I don’t want to descend to those levels,” he said about Javier Tebas, president of the employers’ association. “We are in a Federation that when I arrived five years ago we had 140 million and now it is at 400, he is in a situation of recession. A Federation that was the tenth in the world and is now the second. The first thing we did was change the establishment arbitration,” he said.

“For the good of Spanish football, we have to review what is happening in LaLiga. With LaLiga, we still have to go around and find a way to get something different, because if we do the same as the English, they will take more and more advantage of us,” he added. .

On the other hand, Rubiales explained that the Spanish men’s soccer team is in “a moment of evolution”, with players who will give “joys”, and insisted on the model of the Super Cup in Arabia because it gives money for “modest soccer”.

In addition, the president of the RFEF celebrated the agreement with Morocco to achieve the “support of Africa” ​​in the candidacy with Portugal for the 2030 World Cup. “The accounts are coming out and God willing this stadium will be a World Cup. The final would be in Spain “, said.