Gerard Pique is adamant Barcelona achieved all their success during his time at the club without resorting to underhand dealings and favour from referees.
A corruption complaint has been filed by Spanish prosecutors against Barcelona concerning alleged payments made to the company of Jose Maria Enriquez Negreira – a former vice-president of Spain's Technical Committee of Referees (CTA).
It has been claimed the total payments exceeded €7million, dating from 2001 to 2018. Newspaper El Pais last month reported Enriquez Negreira's company – DASNIL 95 SL – produced written reports and DVD assessments of referees for Barcelona prior to games.
Real Madrid have said they are ready to appear at any trial that stems from the investigation, having expressed concern at board level about the allegations levelled against their fierce rivals.
Yet Pique, the long-serving defender who retired last November, rejects any suggestion of there being wrongdoing behind Barcelona's on-field success.
He told Spanish broadcaster RAC1: "I would put my hand in the fire that Barca have not bought referees. If you want to buy a referee it's as easy as going and paying him directly with black money, not paying a vice-president of the committee with an invoice."
Pique said he was never aware of the payments to the former top-tier referee's company during his 14-year first-team stint.
"The players don't know that. I don't know if this gentleman's job was to help in this, but as players we were out of it," Pique said.
Barcelona had a stellar run of success in domestic and European competition from 2004-05 through to 2018-19, since when the trophy success has largely dried up, although they are LaLiga leaders this season.
Pique added: "No matter how much they want to smear, that was a golden era."
He said Barcelona, who had the likes of Lionel Messi, Xavi and Pique himself as key playing figures for much of their dominant period, were clearly much stronger than their rivals.
"It's not just the titles won, but how they were won," Pique said. "You can review everything: we were far superior. We didn't depend on the referee, for better or for worse."
Barcelona's current president Joan Laporta said on Sunday the club are "innocent of the accusations" being levelled.
Scalvini out of Euro 2024, Gatti called up as replacement
Giorgio Scalvini has been ruled out of Euro 2024 for Italy after picking up an injury in Atalanta's final game of the season.
The Italian was forced off the field during the Europa League winners' 3-2 defeat to Fiorentina in Serie A on Sunday, reportedly rupturing an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in his left knee.
Atalanta confirmed in a statement on Monday the defender will undergo further tests, and Luciano Spalletti announced he would not be joining the squad as planned.
Federico Gatti will instead link up with the national team as defensive cover after Francesco Acerbi was also forced to withdraw last week.
The Juventus man has made three appearances for the Azzurri, most recently in November against North Macedonia.
Mbappe not included in Henry's preliminary Olympics squad
Kylian Mbappe has been left out of France's 25-man preliminary Olympics squad ahead of the Games in Paris starting next month.
Thierry Henry, who is the coach of Les Bleus' under-23 side, did not include the Paris Saint-Germain forward, who is expected to complete a move to Real Madrid in the coming days following Los Blancos' 15th Champions League success.
The 46-year-old has until July 3 to confirm his final 22-player list ahead of group-stage fixtures against the United States on July 24, Guinea on July 27 and New Zealand on July 30.
Henry has revealed he faced plenty of difficulties when selecting his squad, with several clubs refusing to release their players for the tournament.
Because the football event at the Olympics is not formally recognised by FIFA, clubs are not obliged to release their players for the competition, which begins on July 24 and ends on August 9.
"Real Madrid were really straightforward about the Olympics," Henry said when quizzed about Mbappe's omission from the squad.
"The last time I received so many rejections was at the university. There have not even been negotiations. You go, you ask, they say no, and you leave."
Henry was able to include several talented stars from across European football, including Crystal Palace duo Michael Olise and Jean-Philippe Mateta, while Bayern Munich's Mathys Tel and PSG's Warren Zaire-Emery were among the other high-profile inclusions.
However, Chelsea stars Malo Gusto and Benoit Badiashile were refused release from Stamford Bridge, but the Blues were able to offer midfielder Lesley Ugochukwu.
Asked if he was disappointed by the decisions made by Premier League clubs, Henry replied: "I will respond to this one very, very clearly – it's not the time for me to talk about that, firstly.
"Secondly, am I disappointed or surprised? No. Neither disappointed nor surprised, the clubs are within their rights, unfortunately, and I think what I have been saying hasn't changed since I started talking about the Olympics."
Les Bleus have previously won two medals at the Olympic Games, taking silver on home soil in Paris back in 1900 and gold at Los Angeles in 1984.
The rules of the competition state that each team must be made up of players born on or after January 1, 2001 (aged 23 at the time of the Games). However, three players born before that date can also be included.
Attention will follow me to Fenerbahce - Mourinho
Jose Mourinho believes his move to Fenerbahce will draw more attention to the Turkish Super Lig.
On Sunday, the 61-year-old was announced as Fenerbahce's new head coach on a two-year deal, his first job since being dismissed by Roma in January.
Turkey is the fifth different nation in which Mourinho has managed, having previously enjoyed stints at Porto, Chelsea, Inter, Real Madrid, Manchester United and Tottenham, winning a combined total of eight domestic titles and two Champions Leagues.
Speaking at his first Fenerbahce press conference, Mourinho admitted he expected more people to pay attention to the club now he is in charge.
"One of the things is, I bring attention in with me. More people in Europe will follow the Turkish league," he said.
"I'm coming to work for Turkish football, for Turkish Super Lig. But fundamentally I come for Fenerbahce.
"When people look at me -- I did six finals, I won five of them -- people think immediately big, but I think we have to go step by step."
Fenerbahce finished runners-up in the Turkish Super Lig last season on 99, behind Galatasaray, extending their 10-year wait for a top-flight trophy.
Mourinho has won silverware at all but one of his clubs, only failing to get his hands on a trophy at Spurs.
The Portuguese icon has urged the Fenerbahce fans to push the side to end that wait for a league title.
"I make zero promises [to the Fenerbahce fans] but [promise] a huge commitment, passion, work, empathy in relation to them," he added.
"The way to express that is the way we are going to work. This shirt is going to be my skin, it's an expression that defines my mentality and that I want everyone at the club to have. The main dream is to win the Turkish Super Lig.
"For me, Fenerbahce means ambition.
"The fans don't need to be patient, they need to be mad, they have to be demanding. If the players cannot deal with that pressure, they don't belong at Fenerbahce.
"I want that passion. I want the players to trust me, to know that I am very honest, very direct, sometimes not the nicest guy, but always honest with them."
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