Former President of Valencia, Paco Roch, has shared rumors of bribery by some of the biggest teams in La Liga. Roch claims he was told that Real Madrid would flirt with referees, while Barcelona would buy them gold watches. However, he admits he doesn't know if these rumors are true or false.
During Roch's tenure at Valencia, there was a person from the city who bought and sold players and claimed to represent Barcelona. This information was shared with Roch by a former referee who revealed that, during a match between Barcelona and Elche, the person approached him and offered one million pesetas in exchange for favors. If Barcelona won, he would give the referee the money, and if they lost, he would keep it. If it ended in a draw, he would keep half. These alleged incidents continued for many years.
Additionally, Roch mentioned rumors of Real Madrid flirting with referees and Barcelona buying them gold Longines watches, with the understanding that these gifts would end once their careers in refereeing were over.
Another incident Roch recalled was an attempt to bribe referee Levnikov during a match against Bayern Munich. Roch gave an agent three million pesetas, but he deceived him, and a penalty was given against Valencia after just five minutes.
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