Barcelona has been accused of corruption over payments made to the vice-president of Spain's football refereeing committee.
The protagonist of the story is Jose Maria Enriquez Negerira, former vice president of the referee committee, who held the position between 1994 and 2018, and who also faced corruption charges in a case brought by the Spanish prosecutor's office, Josep Maria, president of Barça from 2014 to 2020 Bartomeu) and Barça president Sandro Rosell, who was from 2010 to 2014, did the same.
Enrique Negreila has denied favouring Barcelona when it comes to refereeing penalties. Barça explained that they hired an "external consultant" who provided reports "related to professional referees" and denied any wrongdoing. Parties such as Barca, Enriquez Negrela, Bartomeu and Rosell have been contacted by Gazzetta Sport.
What happens if the charges are established?
In mid-February, it was revealed that prosecutors were investigating payments made by Barcelona between 2001 and 2018 to DASNIL 95, a company owned by Negrela, then vice-president.
They began their investigation in May 2022, when tax inspectors alerted them to alleged irregularities in some of the company's financial records. On Friday, prosecutors released the total amount of these payments, to which Barcelona paid a total of 7.3 million euros, as well as to NILSAT, a second company owned by Negrela.
As a result, Barcelona was charged with "continuing business corruption"
The Spanish government enacted a law on this crime in 2010. Since 2015, the bill has included a section specifically targeting sports corruption when it is suspected that someone is trying to "predetermine or alter a game or the outcome of a game in a deliberate and fraudulent manner."
"Persistent" corruption means that the crime is thought to occur over a period of duration and not a one-time event. This means potentially larger penalties that could include up to four years in prison for individuals, or professional disqualification and fines for groups or businesses.
In a document presented to the Barcelona court on Friday, the prosecutor said: "FC Barcelona reached an oral agreement with Enrique Negrela, in strict confidentiality, so that, as vice-president of the Spanish Football Referees Committee (CTA), he will act in favor of Barcelona in the refereeing decisions of club matches in exchange for money." ”
The prosecutor also accused the parties in this case of falsifying administrative and falsifying business documents, and two former officials from Bartomeu's presidency of Barça were also charged: Oscar Grau and Albert Soler. Sport also contacted Grau and Soler for comment.
In terms of other sports penalties, La Liga has indicated that it cannot be investigated because the case is related to an incident that occurred more than three years ago.
La Liga president Javier Tebas said when the scandal broke in February: "We can't have any sporting penalties. ”。“ It has been five years since these payments were stopped, and three years after they occurred, a time limit for such violations is set out in our rulebook. ”
The Spanish Football Federation and the Spanish High Commission for Sport, a government agency, have previously told Le Sport that they will respect the legal process before considering any of their actions.
UEFA told Sport that it would not comment. Unlike La Liga, the governing body of European football will have the power to institute sports sanctions, since according to its rules, there will be no time limit for any violations.
Barça said they had launched their own investigation, which included their compliance department and an outside law firm.
What is Enríquez Negrela's paid?
The exact nature of the service that Enrique Negreila offers to Barça remains highly questionable.
Enriquez Negrara, speaking in the Catalan branch of Cadena Ser, the media outlet that first broke the scandal in mid-February, said that his work is not documented because it is always carried out orally. He said the work included making recommendations on how players would behave before different referees.
In February of this year, Bartomeu claimed in an interview with Gazzetta dello Sport that he only handled payments made to DASNIL by Javier, son of Enríquez Negrela.
He claimed that it was only later that he realized that Enriquez Negrela himself was "involved in the company". He said it was Negrela's son who provided the "technical reports" on Barça's paid referee, which he "completed very professionally".
Negrela's son said the report on how he was paid had been provided to prosecutors.
Bartomeu also said that the cessation of payments in 2018 "to reduce our expenses", adding: "The club's sporting department informed me that we will dissolve our cooperation with this company and start taking on this work internally." ”
However, current Athletic Bilbao head coach Ernesto Valverde said he was "ignorant of anything" about the jobs. Sources close to Pep Guardiola said the former Barça manager (2008-2012) knew nothing about reports provided by Enriquez Negraira or his son. Guardiola spoke to Gazzetta Sport on condition of anonymity.
According to Spanish media, the most revealing comment that has emerged so far may be the testimony given to the Spanish tax authorities by Enriquez Negrela, in which he indicated that Barcelona paid him "to ensure that there is no referee decision against them, that is, everything remains neutral."
The connection between football clubs and referees is not uncommon in Spain. Carlos Megia Davila, a referee with 219 La Liga matches, has been working in Real Madrid's Institutional Relations Department since his retirement in 2009, completely legally.
Manuel Mejuto Gonzalez, who refereeed 262 matches in Spain's top flight and is now part of Getafe's first team, is once again working completely legally.
But Enrique Negrella's relationship with Barça is the only case in which the club pays money to individuals who still work at the Spanish Football Federation and have real influence.
Barca's current president, Joan Laporta, said on Tuesday: "We plan to hold a press conference in the future to discuss this case. At the moment, we want to be clear that Barca have not bought the referee and have never intended to do so. This is an absolute negative. ”
Last week, Spanish VAR official Javier Estrada Fernandez filed a separate individual criminal complaint against Enriquez Negrara and his son. This means that the prosecutor is forced to close the case and make a decision on whether to bring charges.
Estrada Fernández's complaint caused some unease in the Spanish refereeing group. They look forward to unified and organized action on the entire investigation, and this new complaint is seen as an individual action without the consent of other officials.
Who is José María Enríquez Negrela?
Enriquez Negrilla was born in Barcelona in September 1945 and refereeed for the first time in Spain's top flight in the 1979–80 season. In 1994, he became vice-president of the Technical Committee (CTA) of the Spanish Football Presidents.
On Friday, prosecutors described the CTA as overseeing "referee designations for every match of official Spanish matches." They said Enrique Negreila would be involved in the "assessment" leading to "the promotion and demotion of referees, as well as the recommendations of international referee candidates".
Eduardo Iturralde Gonzalez served as Spain's top referee for 17 years before retiring, a tenure that coincided with Enriquez Negrara's time as vice-president of the referee committee.
In February, he told Sport newspaper: "From my personal experience, Negrela is not a person who has a connection with the competition officials. I've only seen him all season in the FA's training camp for referees. Now all referees meet once a week. Back in the past, they set up a big rally before the season and then every three months to assess our performance.
"Negrela is there, but at most you see him when crossing the path in the hallway of the hotel. He is not involved in the day-to-day affairs of our professional life at all.
"He played more of an institutional role. The referee committee has always followed a good presidential pattern: there is a chief referee who surrounds himself with his closest circle. Negrela is one of them, but he does not come into contact with the referee.
"The only hope we have now is to expose this shady scene. All the referees want to clarify everything and look forward to a wider investigation. From the 20 La Liga referees of my generation, I've spoken to 18 referees. We were all very angry. "The uniform group collapsed and Barcelona was charged with corruption for bribing the former referee.