Laporta Fires Back at Money Laundering Complaint: 'Absolutely False, They Want to Hurt Me'
Joan Laporta has hit back at a complaint filed against him at Spain's Audiencia Nacional, calling it a smear campaign ahead of Barça's presidential election.
Joan Laporta is back in the headlines for all the wrong reasons — and he’s not having any of it, calling a fresh legal complaint against him a politically motivated stitch-up designed to derail his presidential bid.
What’s the Complaint About?
A Barcelona member has filed a complaint at the Audiencia Nacional — Spain’s high court — accusing Laporta and several former members of his board of alleged money laundering and the improper payment of commissions. According to reporting from El Periódico, the complaint points to a web of companies spread across Spain, Cyprus, Dubai, Croatia, and Estonia, allegedly used to funnel dodgy payments connected to deals made during Laporta’s presidency.
The operations flagged include:
- The renewal of Barcelona’s Nike sponsorship deal
- Work related to the Spotify Camp Nou renovation
The Audiencia Nacional will now assign the case to one of its judges, who’ll decide whether to formally open an investigation or bin the complaint entirely.
Laporta’s Response: ‘It’s a Sofrito’
Speaking on Catalunya Ràdio, Laporta came out swinging. He flatly denied any wrongdoing and pointed the finger at what he called a coordinated legal and media strategy aimed at damaging his chances in the upcoming Barça presidential election.
“Todo es absolutamente falso” — everything is absolutely false — was his headline line, and he kept returning to it throughout the interview.
He also addressed why certain club contracts haven’t been made fully public, arguing that commercial confidentiality clauses and competitive strategy make full transparency impossible in some cases. Fair point in principle, though it’s the sort of answer that doesn’t exactly calm the waters.
He also admitted he hadn’t yet seen the full details of the complaint, saying he only knew what had appeared in the press.
Who Else Is Named?
Laporta isn’t the only one in the dock here. Several former board members are also named in the complaint, including:
- Rafa Yuste
- Maria Elena Fort
- Eduard Romeu
- Ferran Olivé
A proper who’s who of the last Laporta regime, basically.
The Messi Subplot
In a slightly left-field moment during the same interview, Laporta also opened up about his relationship with Leo Messi — and it sounds like it’s been a bit frosty, to put it mildly.
He confirmed that at the 2023 Ballon d’Or ceremony, he went to greet Messi and was blanked. Proper awkward. He said the relationship “is not what it was” but stopped short of any real bitterness, calling Messi a “myth of Barcelonism.” Which is a very diplomatic way of saying things are still a bit weird between them.
The Bigger Picture
With Barça’s presidential election on the horizon, the timing of this complaint is going to raise eyebrows no matter what. Laporta clearly believes — or at least wants voters to believe — that this is a deliberate attempt to kneecap his campaign. Whether the Audiencia Nacional takes the case forward will tell us a lot about how serious the accusations really are.
For now, it’s another chapter in the never-ending soap opera that is life at the Camp Nou. Cor blimey.