Sports

Barcelona in corruption scandal, bribe referee £1.2m

Barcelona have been accused of paying more than £1million across three seasons to the former vice president of LaLiga referees, Jose Maria Enriquez Negreira, in a major corruption scandal.

Barcelona are currently top of the standings in LaLiga and are busy preparing to face Manchester United in the Europa League on Thursday.

But a report, which was first released on Cadena SER radio program Que t’hi jugues, alleged that Barcelona paid Negreira through his company, DASNIL 95, €1.4 million (£1.2 million) during Josep Bartomeu’s presidency.

It was alleged that Negreira, who became the vice president of the Technical Committee of Referees after retiring, was paid €532,728 (£473,340) in 2016, €541,752 (£481,358) in 2017, and then a further €318,200 (£282,915) in 2018.

All those payments were alleged by the prosector’s office to have been made by Barcelona to DASNIL 95, with a report by Spain’s Tax Agency, which is investigating Negreira’s company, and seen by Diario AS, claiming they wanted “to make sure that no refereeing decisions were made against, that is, that everything was neutral.”

Having already testified, Negreira and his son Javier Enríquez Romero have reportedly denied that Barcelona ever received any preferential treatment from referees.

According to Cadena SER, Negreira, in his testimony, claimed that his alleged agreement with Barcelona was to see him recommend how their players should behave in game with referees.

It was claimed that he tailored his advice depending on the referee they were assigned for upcoming matches.

That is, what they could and should not do depending on the referee designated for the matches

One issue that has arisen is that the Tax Agency has attested that there is no documentation currently in their possession which details any such relationship of consultancy between Negreira and Barcelona.

The timing is disastrous for Barcelona having spent recent years mired in controversy – but they came out fighting in their own statement on Wednesday.

The incumbent president, Joan Laporta, has vowed to defend the club’s name amid the ongoing investigation.

“The recent report that Barca paid a referee for an investigation? It’s not a coincidence that this information comes out now, when Barca are doing well.

“We reserve all the necessary actions to defend our club,” Laporta said.

If found to have acted illicitly, Barcelona, who are currently at loggerheads with LaLiga President, Javier Tebas, over their continued support for a European Super League, could face stringent penalties.

Both Barcelona and Negreira have however denied any wrongdoing.

The Star