Barca president denies 7-million-euro payments attempted to influence referees

FC Barcelona President Joan Laporta held a press conference to explain the ongoing scandal around the payments of over seven million euros that the club made to the former vice-president of the Spanish Referee's Federation Enriquez Negreira.

The implication is that Barcelona used the payments to try and ensure favorable refereeing decisions over an 18-year period.

Now, the club faces legal proceedings in Spain and an investigation from UEFA into the affair, a Xinhua report said.

Speaking at the Camp Nou Stadium, Laporta said the money was paid for reports on match officials.

"We received 629 reports from Negreira along with 43 CDs, along with other briefings," said Laporta in his briefing on Monday, insisting there was no attempt to influence referees.

"I have documentation that show that there have never been any payments that directly attempt to sway results in sporting competitions," he commented, saying the reports were "basically technical things" such as "the profile of the referee, what games the ref in question had overseen; their manner of officiating. Very detailed briefings with CD's adding more details. Very detailed information," he said.

Laporta also said all the payments were made with "detailed invoices" and declared to the tax authorities.

He said Negreira had also provided "profiles on other clubs," when there was not such a "high level of data available on players."

"Barca has never paid money in order to gain a sporting advantage," said the Barca president.