Spanish prosecutors on Friday accused Barcelona of corruption, with the club paying the former vice-chairman of Spain’s referees’ committee through a company he owned. According to prosecutors, the Catalan club paid a total of more than 7.3 million euros between 1994 and 2018 to Jose Maria Enriquez Negreira, a former referee and former vice-president of the Spanish Football Federation’s refereeing committee. The club’s two former presidents, Josep Maria Bartomeu and Sandro Rosell, as well as Enriquez Negrera are facing the same charges emanating from the Barcelona prosecutor’s office.
Enríquez Negira was reportedly paid to provide advice on refereeing matters.
“FC Barcelona has obtained and maintains a strictly confidential oral agreement with José María Enríquez Negreira, as Vice-Chairman of the Committee of Technical Arbitration (CTA) and in exchange for money, to subsequently perform actions that benefit FC Barcelona.” in decisions by the referee,” explained Barcelona’s public prosecutor’s office.
The investigation began after Spanish tax authorities identified irregularities in tax payments made by Dasnil 95, a company owned by Enriquez Negreira, between 2016 and 2018.
Dasnil 95 reportedly received payments from Barcelona in between those years.
According to Cadena Ser Radio, the last bill was issued in June 2018. After that the CTA was reorganized and Enriquez Negira left the organization.
This week, Barca’s current boss Joan Laporta insisted his club have never “bought referees”.
Reports claim the Catalan side paid 6.5 million euros ($6.9 million) to Enriquez Negreira’s firm between 2001 and 2018.
“It should be clear that Barca have never bought referees and Barca never had any intention of buying referees,” Laporta said on Tuesday.
Barcelona says Dasnil 95 was paid to advise the club on refereeing matters. But prosecutors suspect the money could have been used to corrupt sports officials.
Liga president Javier Tebas has said that at a sporting level, Barcelona are in no immediate danger as Spanish, European and world football’s governing bodies have five-year limits.
At the criminal level, the accused can be jailed for up to four years.
“Sanctions against the club could range from ‘suspension of activity … to complete dissolution’ as a company,” Alberto Palomar, a law professor at Madrid’s Carlos III University, told AFP.
The case has cast a shadow over Spain’s refereeing body, which last week demanded that one man’s alleged actions not “tarnish” the “image” and “honour” of all referees.
“The problem worries us because it hurts Spanish football and sport,” Spanish Culture and Sports Minister Mikel Eustace said on Tuesday.
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and was auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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