Barcelona have found themselves entangled in another controversy, after it was revealed that they had been paying the Vice President of the Technical Committee for Referees, Enriquez Negreira, over a period of three years.
The Catalonian side paid €1.392 million between 2016 and 2018 under president Josep Maria Bartomeu, who was later replaced by Joan Laporta. Bartomeu had several corruption charges against him before he was impeached, and his wrongdoings have found a way back to the club in 2023.
Barcelona found bribing referee committee VP for three years
The payments are the result of investigations being carried out by the Justice Department on a separate investigation involving Negreira. The tax office has stated that there was not enough documentation for consultancy work to be carried out.
On the other hand, Barcelona maintain that they had the necessary documentation. And Negreira states that the work was delivered verbally. Barcelona reportedly asked Negreira for advice on how their players should deal with matters on the pitch. And technical consultancy remains the main reason behind the payment.
The club went on to release a statement about the matter, and it reads as follows:
That FC Barcelona hired the services of an external technical consultant in the past, who supplied, in video format, technical reports referring to lower-category players in Spain for the Club’s technical secretariat.
Additionally, the relationship with the external provider itself was extended with technical reports related to professional referees in order to complement the information required by the coaching staff of the first team and the subsidiary, a common practice in professional football clubs.
Currently, this type of outsourced services falls to a professional assigned to the Soccer Area. FC Barcelona regrets that this information appears precisely at the best sporting moment of this season. FC Barcelona will take legal action against anyone who spoils the Club’s image with possible insinuations against the entity’s reputation that may arise as a result of this information.
