Barcelona legend and current player for Japanese side Vissel Kobe, Andres Iniesta was recently among those whose opinion on the now infamous Negreira case involving a refereeing scandal associated with FC Barcelona.
Recent investigations have ruled in favor of the Catalan club, showing no signs of any reported corruption as claimed. The former Barcelona and Spain National Team veteran had the following to say regarding the scandal when talking to ‘Tu diràs‘, a RAC1 program:
“I am totally convinced that Barcelona never bought referees. In all the time that I played for the club, I never noticed anything weird.”
He emphasized that he himself nor any of those around him during his Barcelona playing days would suggest or agree to any such sort of apparent favoritism or strange decisions by nature, nor that Barcelona would partake in any buying of referees.
The player remains in contact with this current generation and iteration of Barcelona, even visiting the training ground and being reunited with his immortalized partner in midfield, Xavi Hernandez, who is now the head coach and manager of the team.
A true and widely recognized legend of the Blaugrana, Andres Iniesta was a youth graduate from La Masia and won multiple titles with both FC Barcelona as well as the Spanish National team. 4 UEFA Champions League titles, 1 FIFA World Cup, 2 European Championships, and 9 La Liga titles are just some of his accolades worth mentioning.
The Negreira case has gained more and more notoriety as time has passed, in what was initially a huge alleged stain on the Barca name with allegations of corruption and payment to referees to offer alleged favorable decisions, the case has since seen itself backfire as the ongoing investigation proves to be more and more in Barcelona’s pleads of innocence, and the Catalans are now expected to file lawsuits against certain journalists and individuals that were involved in defaming the club.
