Barcelona charged with corruption over €7m payments to Enriquez Negreira from 2001 to 2018

Barcelona have been charged with corruption, related to their dealings with former referee’s chief Enriquez Negreira. As heard by a court in Catalonia recently, the club has been charged with “corruption”, “breach of trust” and “false business records”.

“FC Barcelona obtained and maintained a strictly confidential verbal agreement with Jose Maria Enriquez Negreira so that, in his capacity as vice-president of the technical arbitral committee (CTA) and in exchange for money, the latter carries out actions tending to benefit FC Barcelona in decisions by the referees,” said the public prosecutor’s office.

Barcelona facing corruption charges over Enriquez Negreira case 

Between 2001 and 2018, the club paid Negreira around €7 million for ‘technical advice, in relation to referees and for scouting reports of lower division players.’ The payments were received through Negreira’s company, DASNIL 95, which only had him and his son as employees and Barcelona as their only client. 

Now, it has emerged that he faxed the club in 2020, two years after he left his role as the chief of the referee’s committee. At the time, he offered to help with VAR in exchange for continued payment. But the club did not take him up on his offer. 

The Spanish Justice Department has taken up the case, and criminal proceedings are ongoing against former Barca president Josep Maria Bartomeu, as well as Sandro Rosell. 

La Liga cannot hand sporting punishments because the events stopped over five years ago. But, UEFA can do so. However, they haven’t made any comment on the matter as of yet. Barcelona will launch their own investigation into the matter, and are also expected to hold a press conference to further address the matter at length soon.