Amor defends La Masia: "Noone held a gun to their heads"

Guillermo Amor spoke to the radio show 'Al Primer Toque' on Tuesday night and defended his role at Barcelona's La Masia in the wake of the transfer ban imposed on the club by FIFA.

"I feel bad that so much damage has been done to Barca, a club that does everything to make sure the [young players] don't lack anything and the saddest thing is that we do not know who made the complaint," Amor said.

"For me it is very sad; it doesn't seem fair. With all the dedication to these kids for so many years, worrying about their families...

And he defended the FC Barcelona model: "In Barca it goes on as it has done in recent years. Our mission has always been to find talent around the world and to bring them [to La Masia]. There has never been a gun put to anyone's head.

"Normally they are families who want to come, some even offer. It's not fair that there are players who have spent years in Catalonia and now have to return to their country."

Amor continued to rant: "Many clubs have acted and are acting in the same but it's us that have paid the price and we do not know where the complaint came from. If someone accuses me of something I'd like to know who it is because maybe we have a problem."

Remembering the early days when the complaint came to light, Amor spoke about the Korean player Lee at the heart of the matter: "It all came from the complaint about Lee and then [FIFA] began asking for more information.

"Barca dedicated a lot of time to the players — equally to all of them — but if there was one they spent even more time with it was Lee, from the first day he arrived. Even though he can't play he prefers to stay at La Masia, as he and his family have told us."

He sees little solution to the problem and regrets not doing more at the time: "The only way to solve this problem was to get on a plane the very next day and speak to Blatter, ask him what happened, ask for forgiveness, return the players to their homes, solves the problem, fix it and find a way for them to play again."