MADRID (AP) — The leaked audio in which Valencia president Anil Murthy jokingly says he would kill player Carlos Soler if he leaves the club without a transfer fee was edited and taken out of context, the Spanish club said Monday.
The daily Superdeporte published the audio recorded from a private dinner attended by the president and some businessmen in April.
In one of the audios, a person who the newspaper identifies as Murthy said he will tell Soler that “if you leave for free in January, I'll kill you. I'll kill you and all the press ... I'll put down 100,000 euros to kill ... Because you have to bring in money, you grew up in the academy, and the club has invested a lot of money in you."
Murthy appears to be giggling when he starts talking about Soler, a 25-year-old midfielder who has often been linked to bigger clubs.
"The audio published by Superdeporte has been edited and altered to convey a false and biased idea,” the club said, adding it was released "to create controversy."
It said the audio from the private meeting is “taken out of context” and is part of a “smear campaign” by the newspaper against Valencia.
The club said the campaign began after it denied a proposal by the newspaper to charge Valencia “tens of thousands of euros” in advertising.
At the dinner, Murthy also talked about the club's difficult financial situation and future plans for the squad.
Valencia fans have been fierce critics of Murthy and Singaporean owner Peter Lim, saying they treat the club only as a business.
___
More AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports
