Europe 1 with AFP 9:09 p.m., February 21, 2023

FC Barcelona president Joan Laporta responded harshly to Javier Tebas on Tuesday, accusing him of "fomenting a campaign against Barça", after the La Liga president assured on Monday that Laporta should resign "if he does not explain himself pas" concerning the scandal of transfers to a former head of arbitration.

Nothing is going well in the Spanish championship.

FC Barcelona has been in turmoil for several days, after accusations of payments of several million euros in favor of a former head of Spanish arbitration.

The Catalan club defends itself from any embezzlement, but sees a sling rising from other professional formations.

Club president Joan Laporta has been very vocal towards La Liga president Javier Tebas.

"Tebas is fomenting a campaign against Barca and me. He has dropped his mask. He continues with his obsession with Barca, with his phobia of our club," Laporta attacked during the presentation of a new anti-drone security system at Camp Nou.

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Resentment towards Barca?

"I remember that he is a person who, in his past, has already shown his animosity towards Barça. Already in 2005, as vice-president of Alavés, he had filed a complaint because he did not want that Messi plays at Barca," Laporta continued.

"He does not forgive us, assured the president of Barça, that we did not want to sign their contract with (the investment fund) CVC, which he pilots himself. He does not support either that we are in favor of the Super League. That is his usual modus operandi."

"I will not give Mr. Tebas the pleasure of resigning from my position as president of FC Barcelona. That is the decision of the socios (supporters-shareholders). Whoever tries to smear the history and image of the FC Barcelona will receive a sharp response," added the Blaugrana president.

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"Maximum Gravity"

For its part, La Liga again communicated during the day on the revelations concerning the alleged payment by FC Barcelona of several million euros to a former official of the technical committee of referees (CTA) of the Spanish Football Federation.

"The majority of LaLiga clubs have expressed their deep concern over this matter, which they consider to be of maximum gravity," the Spanish league wrote in a statement.

She adds that 40 of the 42 clubs playing in the First and Second Division voted in favor of a joint communication to underline that they "disavow and reject the facts".

On Monday, Javier Tebas considered that Laporta should resign "if he does not explain well or in a more sensible way why" the club were making payments of several million euros to former referee and refereeing manager Jose Maria Enriquez Negreira.

"In the press release that FC Barcelona issued just after the scandal broke, it looked like what they were doing, all the clubs were doing, when it was obvious that this was not the case", had tackled Tebas.

"It was one thing to use former referees, but it was quite another to use an ex-referee still active in the technical committee of referees. There must be an explanation".