The act of the Barcelona Club paying money to Mr. Jose Maria Enriquez Negreira and the referees over a period of many years was deemed to be illegal by Judge Joaquin Aguirre of the Barcelona court in Spain. The judge stated that this action constituted a crime.
Since February 2023, when the Spanish press made the discovery, this situation has been referred to as the “Negreira case.” An investigation has been launched following allegations that the Barcelona Club bribed Mr. Negreira and the referees with a total sum of 7.5 million euros between the years 2001 and 2018. The inquiry was initiated by entities within the Spanish judicial system as well as the prosecutor’s office in Barcelona.
Barcelona FC is in the eye of a referee bribery investigation
In response to these allegations, Barcelona FC stated that they had paid Mr. Negreira, who had served as Vice President of the Referee Council (CTA) of the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) from 1994 to 2018, in order to get documentation. Both the match reports and the refereeing are not considered to constitute bribes.
“However, according to the reasoning that was presented by Judge Joaquin Aguirre, Mr. Negreira is a government servant and works for a competent authority, and he was either elected or nominated to lead a department. This is a position that is open to the public. Therefore, with the act of receiving and transferring money, Mr. Negreira and the Barcelona Club have committed a crime,” the El Debate newspaper said. “Due to Therefore, with the act of receiving and transferring money, Mr.
Also included in the report from the court, which was announced by the judge Joaquin Aguirre, was the following statement: “The crime of bribery was committed by payment, regardless of whether or not it was established that the payment led to systematic corruption.” system in arbitration in Spain”.
According to the publication El Debate, Maria Bartomeu and Sandro Rosell, two previous presidents of the Barcelona Club, were also prosecuted, along with Mr. Negreira and his son, Javier Enriquez Romero, who constructed a network of companies to collect money from FC Barcelona. Also charged were Mr. Negreira and his son. Money laundering is suspected to have occurred as a result of Javier Enriquez Romero’s actions.
Barcelona Club is building a new stadium Nou Camp, which could completely be affected by the ongoing incident
AFP
Faced with new unfavorable developments from the court, Barcelona FC is facing the possibility of being eliminated from the 2023-2024 Champions League season by UEFA (European Football Federation) at any time.
On July 27, UEFA announced: “Temporarily allowing FC Barcelona to participate in the European Cups for the 2023 – 2024 season. However, the future decision on participation/exclusion from UEFA club tournaments remains reserved. FC Barcelona is obliged to report to the Ethics and Disciplinary Inspection (EDI) on the progress of ongoing investigations and to provide EDI with all documents and information that they request”.
Along with Spain’s investigation of the “Negreira case”, UEFA also has a separate investigation into the incident involving Barcelona Club. “With the verdict from the court just announced, UEFA can speed up the decision to exclude FC Barcelona from the Champions League in the near future, possibly before the trial process ends,” AS said .
Coach Xavi and Barcelona Club face a lot of pressure before the court ruling
AFP
Barcelona FC is currently ranked 3rd in La Liga after 7 rounds. They are preparing to meet Sevilla at 2:00 a.m. on September 30 in the early match of round 8 of La Liga. In the Champions League group stage of the 2023 – 2024 season, the Catalan team started with a 5-0 victory over Antwerp Club (Belgium) and is about to meet Porto away from home in the middle of next week, at 2:00 a.m. on October 5.