Fans of FC Barcelona have been on a high lately with rumors of their club legend Lionel Messi’s return doing the round on social media. Ever since the man left a few years back, the club has not enjoyed the same amount of success they saw during Messi’s time.
However, the excitement surrounding the World Cup winner’s possible return got recently overshadowed by an ongoing controversy between Barcelona President Joan Laporta and arch-rivals Real Madrid.
Football fans from all over the world are no stranger to the fact that Barcelona have been charged with corruption in the ‘Negreira Case’. For those who are unaware, the Spanish Giants have been put on trial for corruption over payments they made to the then-vice-president of Spanish football’s refereeing committee, Jose Maria Enriquez Negreira.
On Monday, Laporta held a press conference in which he denied the corruption charges against his club. He went a step further to label Real Madrid as “the team of the regime”, clearly stating that the Los Blancos are the club enjoying the benefit of refereeing decisions for years. To clear it out, the 60-year-old pointed out the period in Spanish history in which Franciso Franco ruled in a dictatorship from 1933 until 1975.
“I want to refer to the presence of a club, on its own, as a private accusation in the trial. A club that says it feels harmed. A club that has always been favored by refereeing decisions. It has been considered the team of the regime. Because of their proximity to political and economic power”
Today, Real Madrid have responded to Laporta’s harsh words in a savage manner. They released a video on their official channels which showcased Barcelona’s links to Franciso Franco.
The video highlighted the fact that Franco received three medals from Laporta’s club which also gave the former the position of an honorary club member in 1965. It further underlines the trophies Barcelona won during Franco’s reign which include eight La Liga titles and nine Copas del Generalisimo. It is to be noted that during that period Real Madrid did not win a domestic league title for 15 years.
The video also contains the words of Santiago Bernabeu, the player after whom their home ground is named. Back in time, he had stated “When I hear that Real Madrid has been the team of the regime, it makes me want to shit on the father of whoever says it”.
The video completely exposed Barcelona as it also highlighted that the Camp Nou stadium was opened by Franco’s general minister, Jose Solis Ruiz. Also, a major claim in the video was that Barcelona was saved from bankruptcy three times during Franciso’s reign.
The drama regarding the allegations has been going on for a while now. Real had previously expressed their desire to join the charges against Barcelona. It would be interesting to see Laporta’s comeback after the brutal Real Madrid video. Though nothing is proven at this point in time, it is only a matter of days before the truth comes out in front of everyone.
