Barcelona issue official statement after Joan Laporta accusations

Robin Bairner

Updated: 23 Feb 2026 12:16 GMT
3 min read

Joan Laporta, Barcelona, 2025/26 — © IMAGO

Barcelona have released a statement firmly denying claims made against president Joan Laporta just a matter of weeks before the Camp Nou side’s elections.

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A report published in El Periodico claimed that Laporta has been subject to a complaint filed in the duty court of the Central Court of Instance of the National Court in Madrid late on Friday night.

The allegations, which were made by a Barcelona fan, surround a number of deals made by Barcelona in recent seasons, including the club’s Nike sponsorship agreement and the renovation of Camp Nou.

The Catalan club have moved to dismiss these claims out of hand via an official statement that claims the information was “false or highly manipulated”.

Barcelona respond to ‘completely false’ claims

In a 577-word statement, Barcelona dismantle the claims made against Laporta and several other high-ranking members of the club.

The club claims that it was approached by journalists in January to verify a potential corruption story, but after making their own internal and external checks, this was rejected as “completely false”. It states that the documents the report was based upon were “presumably, false or highly manipulated”.

Despite Barcelona’s assertion that the information was wrong, the story was ultimately published.

The Catalan club is now threatening legal action against El Periodico as it published the report “knowing irrefutably that the claim is based on false information and without taking into account the Club's version of events which was duly received”.

Barcelona also point out that this information has come to light at a particularly sensitive time due to the ongoing election process.

What is Laporta accused of?

It is claimed that Laporta, as well as other high-ranking officials at Barcelona, have been collecting “undue commissions” via a network of companies based in Spain, Cyprus, Dubai, Croatia and Estonia.

The complaint claims that the funds collected were laundered through “apparently legitimate businesses”. It has provided 38 documents that are said to back up this assertion.

One of the transactions that has been flagged is a €28 million transfer by the New Era Visionary Group from an account in Dubai to Barcelona in January.

It is claimed in the complaint that the company New Era Visionary Group “did not arise spontaneously as an external investor, but was promoted by Laporta himself for key operations”.

It adds: “The multi-jurisdictional structure (United Arab Emirates, Estonia and Spain) and the use of Cypriot holdings reveal a deliberate intention to hide real ownership and money flows.”

What will happen now?

In the next days, the National Court will decide whether this is a complaint that is worth following.

If this is the case, Laporta and Barcelona will be subject to an official investigation.

On the other hand, if the Court believes there is insufficient evidence to merit this, the case will simply be rejected.

Laporta, who is not under formal investigation, remains favourite to win the Barcelona presidential election.

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