Joan Laporta, president of FC Barcelona, met this Thursday with Aleskander Ceferín, president of UEFA, in Ljubljana. The interview is part of the Barca club’s strategy to try to avoid a sanction from the European body for the Negreira case. The main concern is that Barça could be excluded from the next edition of the Champions League.
Laporta already had kind words with Ceferín last Monday in his appearance at the 1899 Auditorium at the Camp Nou. The Barca president thanked the attitude of the UEFA president with respect to that maintained by Javier Tebas, president of the League, and now he has attended his meeting in Slovenia. Ceferín had affirmed in his country that the Negreira case was “the biggest scandal” that he had seen “in the world of soccer.”
The Barca president, in any case, already attended the League meeting last Wednesday to give explanations and greet Thebes. Laporta intends to protect the club and demonstrate that there has been no sports corruption and hence the diplomatic deployment that began in Madrid and has continued in Ljubljana. The Ceferín-Laporta meeting was disclosed by Joan Fontes on his twitter account and confirmed by El País.
UEFA announced in March the start of an investigation by its Ethics and Disciplinary panel to find out if the Catalan club has been able to violate the legal framework of the European body. With the entry into force since 2007 of articles 4.02 and 4.03 of the regulations for its competitions, UEFA warns that it may penalize “any activity aimed at fixing or influencing the result of a match at a national or international level” and “declares that said club will not be able to participate in the competition. This ineligibility is effective for one season only.”
UEFA does not need any judicial resolution to apply sanctions, a circumstance that is of particular concern to Barcelona, which is also committed to the Super League project against the interests of Ceferín and Tebas. The distancing with UEFA plays against the Barça club, concerned about the crisis of reputation at a time when the Espai Barça is promoting and the possible return of Messi is being considered.
Although he did not convince the clubs either, Laporta exhibits a conciliatory tone with the League and UEFA. The threat of being excluded from European tournaments would be a blow to Barça, who, furthermore, will have to play their matches at Montjuïc next season due to the remodeling of the Camp Nou.
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