The National Court rejects the complaint filed by a Barça member against Joan Laporta

BarcelonaAnother setback for the Barcelona member who filed a complaint against Joan Laporta. National Court Judge Santiago Pedraz has rejected the complaint. Isidro Navarro Gurumeta against various members of the outgoing board, as well as senior club executives. The investigating judge, as requested by the Public Prosecutor's Office last week, opens the door for the crimes they are accused of—disloyal administration, money laundering, corruption between private individuals, falsification of corporate documents, and organized crime—to be tried in Barcelona. Now, if desired, the complainant must submit the complaint to the ordinary courts.

In line with the Public Prosecutor's Office, the magistrate explains in the ruling that the National Court is not competent to investigate the facts contained in the complaint. The judge bases this on Supreme Court doctrine, which establishes that the court is only competent when all the crimes are committed "entirely" abroad. According to the text, Judge Pedraz considers that there is an "evident" territorial link with Barcelona in the crimes of disloyal administration and organized crime.

Besides Laporta, the lawsuit requests the indictment of Barça's acting president, Rafael Yuste; former institutional vice president, Maria Elena Fort; former economic vice president, Eduard Romeu; former treasurer, Ferran Olivé; secretary, Josep Cubells; general manager, Manel del Río; compliance officer, Sergi Atienza; head of legal services and presidential advisor, Enric Masip; and chief of staff, Manana Giorgadze. The complaint also names Xavier Laporta, brother of the candidate for reelection and owner of the company Capital Planet SL, which appears in the documentation submitted to the court and is registered at the same address on Barcelona's Diagonal Avenue where Laporta has his professional office. According to the facts presented in the lawsuit, various strategic operations by FC Barcelona, ​​such as the sponsorship contracts with Nike and Spotify, as well as the awarding of the Espai Barça construction project to Limak, were allegedly used to make payments to suspicious accounts in opaque countries. According to the plaintiff, the money—millions of euros—was then laundered back into Spain through legitimate businesses. The accusation has directly impacted the Barça presidential election campaign just weeks before the vote: club members are scheduled to vote on March 15.