Former Barcelona President Joan Laporta Insists Real Madrid Behind Doping Allegations

Ex-Barcelona president Joan Laporta is adamant Real Madrid executives were indeed behind the doping allegations against his former club, despite recent statements from current club officials that refute talk of Los Blancos’ involvement, AS reports.

“It is abundantly clear that Real Madrid are behind the accusations of doping against Barcelona,” Laporta said.

Laporta went so far as to name Real Madrid president Florentino Perez as the person responsible for leaking information to the press and demanded an official apology: “It is high time to apologise,” he said.

Laporta, who was replaced by Sandro Rosell at La Blaugrana, was also scathing of the current Barca board, claiming they had failed to defend their innocent players as well as the overall image of the club.
“They must defend their players over the allegations and be less angry.”

Laporta’s comments do not represent the official Barcelona view however, as earlier this week current board member Toni Freixa categorically denied any wrongdoing on Real Madrid’s part.

Furthermore, Rosell and Perez are said to have settled the matter during a personal phone coversation.

Cadena Cope, the Spanish radio station who accused Barcelona of doping, have also since retracted their inflammatory statement and apologised.