Barcelona president Josep Maria Bartomeu has voiced his opinion over the scandal regarding the signing of Neymar, admitting it has hurt the club's image.
The Catalan side cut a cheque worth €57.1 million to sign the Selecao superstar from Brazilian side Santos, but later, cracks in this deal appeared.
The Blaugrana reportedly failed to reveal €37.9m in the deal to bring the 22-year-old to Camp Nou, a fee that went to a company close to the Brazilian ace's father, resulting in the club being dragged to court, with former president Sandro Rosell stepping down.
"We do not feel our standing [in world football] has fallen on the pitch. Any team can have one season when they do not win a major trophy. That is football," Bartomeu argued.
"Maybe we feel that in some aspects off the pitch [our image has suffered]: the problem with Fifa and the young players, the issue with Neymar. Maybe our image has suffered for these things. But you have to learn when things are not as good as they can be, and we have.
Barca have been dragged to court over the Neymar deal, in which the club failed to announce €37.9m that the Blaugrana paid to company close to the player's father
This led to the resignation of former club president Sandro Rosell (left), who was replaced by the current boss, Josep Maria Bartomeu (right)
"This is not a normal club. You can ask any one of our members — and there are almost 160,000 of them, who between them own the club — what 'mes que un club' means to them. They would all say something different.
"It means we have to be democratic, transparent, that we have to explain everything we do. Some think that [in the Neymar case] we were not transparent. But because a member asked us [to disclose the transfer amount], we did. It is the exact opposite. We were completely transparent. No other club in the world has to do that or would do that.
This controversy was not the only setback the Liga BBVA giants experienced last season, as Barcelona also received a two-transfer window ban, though was later suspended by Fifa, and ended the 2013-14 season trophy-less.
