Xavi responds to Barca bribery charges – ‘Next week there will be more news’

Xavi Hernandez has declined to opine on reports that Barcelona have been charged with bribery by the Spanish public prosecutor, which broke on Thursday morning.

The news comes in relation to the so-called Negreira case, after Barcelona made payments to the former Vice-President of the Referees Technical Committee, Jose Maria Enriquez Negreira, over a period of 17 years, to the tune of €7-8m.

Xavi was predictably asked about this in his pre-match press conference, but said he had nothing more to add on what he has previously said.

“I’m not going to answer that. You know my opinion already. You know what, next week, there will be another. And in 15 days, another. And, in a month. You already know my opinion. Take a look at the newspaper archive. You guys like that no? For me, there has never, never been the feeling that the referees have benefitted us.”

He was also asked if he had had time to reflect on whether it was moral for Barcelona to pay Enriquez Negreira so much money over that period of time, given his position.

“I do not make reflections of this type. I have very little time and I need it to see what happens to the team, what has happened to us in Mallorca, the strategy, Sevilla… I don’t reflect on these issues.”