Laporta: I am not resigning! Real Madrid have been helped by the referees for 70 years

Xavi Hernandez resigned but Joan Laporta refuses to. Although the fans believe that it is not (only) up to the coach, the president of Barcelona is convinced that he is still doing his job well and that this qualifies him to sit in 'the armchair', from which he sends messages to the public that everything is fine, but that others are to blame for the results shortcomings of Barca this season.

That's why he doesn't plan to step down, but blames, among other things, on the leaders of Real Madrid and their 'partnership' with the referees.

Laporta is under fire on many grounds, but he is willing to fight. A little for Barca, a little more for the position.

"I didn't think about resigning, no, no... The key to Barcelona must be stability. Now more than ever. To be the president of Barcelona, in moments of maximum difficulty...", specified Laporta during a guest appearance on Catalan radio RAC 1.

In an almost one-hour conversation with the presenter, he touched on various topics, including the biggest rival and their 'cooperation' with the referees.

"We have never practiced propaganda like Real Madrid TV. The Refereeing Commission of the Spanish Football Association or the guilty organization should therefore be involved. See what happened in the match between Real Madrid and Almeria. Shame! And then Madrid say how the referees help Barca. We are very angry."

They could say the same from the capital, because of the "Negreira case", which still shakes La Liga, in which Barca was accused of being close to referees 15 years ago.

"That case is turning out to be meat for the media. The bribing of referees has not been proven. I believe in justice. I am a lawyer by profession and Barca will certainly be freed of charges, because the reality is that we have never bought referees and because of this orchestrated campaign we will receive financial compensation when we are proven innocent. Throughout the story, Real Madrid have not behaved well, they use an exercise in cynicism that is not acceptable to us. They cannot talk much about the power that reigned over the referees. Look who the referees were for, the later directors of Real Madridwere partners for 70 years".

However, while on the territory of Spain they stare at each other through the crosshairs, outside the country's borders, Real Madrid and Barcelona would cooperate, which confirms the Super League project, which is still alive, because the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg a few months ago overturned UEFA's evidence. And so the two Spanish giants, along with the Italian Juventus, received arguments to continue.

"We are looking for competition and sustainability. Maybe the European Super League will start next season, and if not, we will think about the 2025/26 season. It's time to do it. Each club would receive 100,000,000 euros just from participating, which is money you can't earn even by winning the Champions League. For now, the following are in the Super League: Barca, Real, Inter, Milan, Napoli, Roma, Marseille, three Dutch teams, Bruges and Anderlecht. There are 16 or 18 of us... It would be better to have 16. Not many clubs participated in the first Champions Cup, back in 1955, and look what a competition it turned into."

The bidding has started - who are Barcelona's realistic options for Xavi's replacement?

Finances dictate almost everything and this is one of the reasons why Barça is stuck with the Super League project, because in economic terms it has been on the downswing in recent years.

"The budget plans is making a profit without selling assets. When we arrived, we had 500,000,000 euros in losses and 1,500,000,000 in debt. We have reduced operating costs, according to La Liga, last year we had positive numbers and this year we will have similar results. The relationship is such that we can bring one player and sell another," added Laporta.

As for the selection of the coach, although the media is throwing out different names, Laporta left the job of choosing Xavi's successor to recently appointed sports director Deco.