The Negreila case, known by the media as Barça's "referee's gate", was officially opened last Friday after Spanish prosecutors sued Barça and related executives involved. Originally, the three-year retroactive limitation period would not have been punished by the Spanish Football Federation, but the intervention of Spanish prosecutors has made Barça face a greater crisis. Real Madrid, which has remained silent, was finally the first official response after the prosecution struck: stating that Real Madrid would testify in court as a private prosecutor. At present, the Spanish High Sports Council, the Spanish Professional League and 19 La Liga clubs will all appear as private prosecutors in the Negreira case, and Barça's situation is very serious.
Real Madrid officially took a position, pushing the case in the direction of the entire La Liga confrontation with Barca. Before the Negreila case was brought to court by Spanish prosecutors, the Atletico-led La Liga club issued a joint statement calling for a strict investigation of Barca. Real Madrid and Barca are not on the joint list. Real Madrid assessed at the time that Barça could not be punished in the field of sports because the retroactive limitation period had expired, and there was no point in protesting. But now the situation has changed radically, and the prosecution has stepped in to make Barça potentially guilty.
The Spanish prosecutor's prosecution of Barça and former executives such as Rossell, Bartomeu, Grau and Soler shows that there is sufficient evidence that the two Barça presidents had indirectly had monetary transactions with Negrela, through which they paid the company of the son of then vice president of the referee to buy the referee's report before 2018, and through the latter, sought a referee to make a verdict in Barca's favor. Prosecutors have determined that this is classic sports corruption, while proving that there was a verbal agreement between the two former Barça presidents and Negreila to reach some kind of deal.
Barca began trading with Neregra from 2001 until the latter's ouster in 2018, during which time there were four presidents: Gaspat, Laporta, Rosell and Bartomeu. In total, Negreila has received more than 7.3 million euros from Barça over 17 years.
Spain's Le Monde reported on the scandal in February, even revealing that after Bartomeu ended his cooperation with Negrela, the former commissioner chairman threatened Barça with a fax of "invisible information." Spanish prosecutors began investigating the Negreira case at the end of last year, and formally opened the case in March, also in order to seize the last opportunity before the expiration of the five-year retroactive limitation period for criminal offences in July.
Spanish prosecutors have called for former Barca coaches Luis Enrique and Valverde, as well as Barca president Laporta to testify in court to assist in the investigation. Fans are more concerned about whether Barça really profited from the referee's penalty by paying the vice chairman of the referee for violations. At the very least, Negrela's own first statement has acknowledged that Barca want to ensure that the referee's decision does not go against Barca, which at least involves violating the principle of avoidance related to the interests of professional leagues. At the same time, UEFA has also requested materials related to the Negarera case from the Spanish Football Association and launched an investigation into Barça's alleged violations.
The Negreila case has been dubbed La Liga's "phone gate", and if the prosecution finally convicts Barca and the former executives, what punishment may Barça receive? In addition to the alleged former executives being fined, banned from football activities or jailed, FC Barça, as a legal entity that benefited from the crime of corruption in sports, faces penalties ranging from fines to closure of sports venues, suspension of sports activities (not exceeding 5 years) and, most seriously, legal entities that dissolve clubs, meaning that FC Barça ceases to exist. At the same time, if UEFA decides that Barca's practice is illegal, it can also impose penalties that disqualify Barça from European competition.
However, it is still quite difficult to sit on Barça's charges like the Italian "phone gate". The Spanish prosecution currently has no direct evidence to prove that Barça obtained a favorable verdict from the referee through the act of payment. The Barça executives involved and the Negrelas insist they are not guilty, and unless the prosecution has stronger direct evidence, the case is likely to end up falling after a lengthy trial.
Barça president Laporta will give an official explanation in the near future, and the president of the Spanish Professional League Tebas believes that Barca's admission of the payment itself has violated the principle of stakeholder avoidance. But Barça has not explained anything to the professional league since the exposure, which has disappointed him very much. Regardless of the outcome of the case, Barca will struggle to shake off the stigma of allegedly influencing the referee's decision for quite some time.