Barcelona will not face sanctions over their past payments to the Vice President of the Referees’ Committee, Enriquez Negreira. This has been confirmed by the President of La Liga, Javier Tebas.
The club reportedly made payments worth €1.4 million to Negreira through his company, DASNIL 95 SL, for advisory services. An official statement followed right away, revealing that the payments were for technical reports on lower league players and on professional refereeing.
Barcelona is not in danger of sanctions for payments to Negreira
“It is impossible for there to be sporting sanctions, the statute of limitations would have expired,” the La Liga president said in a statement.
“Another thing is criminal proceedings or a corruption offence between private individuals. We have to wait for the public prosecutor’s office. If there is a complaint, we will have to appear. Ethically and aesthetically this cannot happen in Spanish football,” he added.
There is a possibility that the public prosecutors might pursue the case further since it is still being investigated in Barcelona. And there may be further charges on the grounds of corruption if more evidence suggests so.
Barcelona made the payments to Negreira between 2016 and 2018, when Josep Maria Bartomeu was in charge. He was later impeached and replaced with Joan Laporta, and the club has come a long way since.