Enrique Masip, a member of Barcelona's Sports Committee and advisor to Joan Laporta, gave an exclusive interview to the media, discussing topics such as the Negreira case and Barcelona's new facilities.
Barcelona in the Negreira case?
The narrative of Negreira has been prolonged to justify certain things, but this has happened several times this year. Against Real Sociedad, Dani Olmo was ruled to have committed a foul, and our goal was disallowed. I remember it clearly. In Elche, Vinícius Junior kicked Iñaki Peña in the head before scoring his second goal. The first goal was scored by Jude Bellingham with his hand. Losing three points here, three points there. Why don't those so - called experts make a report? Or a penalty report?
In Vigo, the opponent was awarded three penalties. The evidence is there. When you are accused of bribing referees, which never happened. Referee reports used to be very common. Thirty years ago, teams like Inter Milan, AC Milan, and Real Madrid would give gifts to referees, but not anymore. Now the points gap could be seven, eight, or ten points. And that TV station keeps replaying every mistake. Last year's Copa del Rey final, Real Madrid said the day before that they didn't plan to participate. And the only one who stood up to resist was Joan Laporta. Before, it needed Pep Guardiola or Gerard Piqué to stand up, which was a kind of consumption. With Laporta, Hansi Flick doesn't need to face these things; the club president will speak up.
Will the new stadium be put into use in 2027?
I'm not sure. There are some force majeure factors, such as steel price increases caused by some regional reasons. The top priority is to complete Camp Nou. The club relies on the revenue from Camp Nou. Although the club has invested about 100 million euros in fair play funds for other projects, which limits our ability to sign players, Barcelona does not want to lose its competitiveness. Our women's football team has won three UEFA Women's Champions Leagues, and our handball team has also won three. We need to ensure that all departments are competitive.
Is Deco's plan to stabilize the squad and sign Dani Olmo or Joan García? Is Julian Álvarez the final finishing touch?
If I answer this question, I will become the Font I criticize. We must respect the existing players. Deco has a plan in his mind. I know some details discussed internally, but they are confidential. If we gain trust on March 15th, we will see if those plans are implemented starting from the 16th. What is certain is that we will maintain our competitiveness as much as possible.
