“It has not been a good last 10 days in Spain for anyone who would like football and politics not to be mixed in alarming ways. The sorry mess began with comments made by Barcelona president Joan Laporta while he was defending his club’s past payments to former referees chief Jose Maria Enriquez Negreira. Laporta said he was amazed that Real Madrid had complained, given that: ‘Madrid was historically favoured in refereeing decisions, it was the team of the regime, close to political, economic and sporting power for 70 years.’ Everyone listening knew that the ‘regime’ Laporta was referring to was the dictatorship of General Francisco Franco, who ruled Spain from 1939 until his death in 1975. …”
The Athletic (Video)