Barcelona demand La Liga president Javier Tebas resigns

It has been alleged that Tebas provided false information amid an ongoing investigation into payments made by Barcelona to a former vice president of Spain’s refereeing committee

Javier Tebas has been president of La Liga since April 2013 (PA Media)

Barcelona have demanded that Javier Tebas resigns after allegations that the president of La Liga provided false evidence to “incriminate” the club.

La Vanguardia reported on Monday that Tebas had handed over information to Spanish prosecutors that intended to show Barcelona had made payments to the former vice president of Spain’s refereeing committee.

The report went on to suggest that the documents Tebas provided were decades old and not related to the current case.

The 60-year-old has headed the organising body of Spain’s top two leagues for nearly ten years and has often been an adversary of the Catalan club.

While Tebas has accused La Vanguardia of “slander” and said that the accusation was false, Barcelona have now requested a full explanation and resignation.

“Barcelona, as president Joan Laporta has said in recent weeks, feel the victim of a media lynching based on events that have never occurred: Barca have never bought referees,” a club statement said.

“It is not the first time the president of La Liga has used his media machinery to attack Barcelona but, aside from his usual nonsense, we could never have imagined he would have hoped to incriminate our club with false evidence.

“The news published by La Vanguardia is of such severity that it should alert all La Liga clubs, as they are practices that should have no place in the functions attributed to the president of La Liga. For this reason alone, but also out of dignity and respect for the presidency of La Liga, Mr. Tebas should resign from his position.

“However, knowing his obsession with persecuting Barcelona and constantly showing his aversion and antipathy towards our club, we understand that he will persist in his behaviour of continuing to harm our club.”

An investigation is currently ongoing over alleged payments made by Barcelona to former refereeing body vice president Jose Maria Enriquez Negreira between 2001 and 2018.

Uefa have also confirmed they intend to investigate allegations described by Tebas as the “biggest reputational crisis” in Spanish football history.

Barcelona have denied any wrongdoing, claiming that the payments were made for consultation work.

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