Joan Laporta suffers setback in Neymar deal case
Former Barcelona president Joan Laporta has hit a setback. It is in his attempt to challenge the club’s agreement over the signing of Neymar.
Joan Laporta suffers setback in Neymar deal case
Barca signed Neymar from Santos in 2013. But allegations followed that the complex transfer had been designed to hide the true cost of the deal.
Earlier this month, club president Josep Maria Bartomeu confirmed a news. He said that an agreement took place with the central Spanish authorities. They are to pay €15 million in back taxes and a €5.5m fine.
Barcelona’s board voted 14-2, with two abstentions. They were trying to formally approve the pact. It also meant Bartomeu and former president Sandro Rosell would not face charges.
Laporta said after the announcement that the agreement should not be allowed. As it stains the club’s image while “saving the behinds” of its current leaders.
He and nine other Barca members made an official submission to the court. They said the deal should not be allowed as well as criticising the regime’s “disastrous” management of the club.
However, the government agency that agreed the pact has asked the court to reject his complaint, saying it is not the judges’ job to rule on whether the Barca board are doing a good job or not.
AS published an extract of the agency’s submission to the court, which read: “The object of the current case is not to determine if the management by the directors (past and present) was disastrous or not.
“In this situation it is clear that the real intention is not to defend legitimate interests in a neutral way, and to participate in the administration of justice, it is another very different intention.”
Laporta, who served as Barca president between 2003 and 2010, fell out with Rosell and Bartomeu during his time at the helm.
