Barcelona have been charged with corruption over payments made by the club to the then vice-president of the Spanish referees’ committee. As reported by BBC Sport, the payments were made to Jose Maria Enriquez Negreira, a former vice-president of Spain’s referees’ committee.
Spain’s public court has accused the club of maintaining a relationship with Jose Maria Enriquez Negreira in which ‘in exchange for money’ he carried out actions that would ‘lead to Barcelona being favoured in the decision making of the referees’.
According to the prosecution, €7.3 Million was paid by the club to DASNIL and NILSAT, two companies owned by Negreira.
As well as the club itself, former Barcelona presidents Josep Maria Bartomeu and Sandro Rosell are also being targeted by the lawsuit. All of the individuals involved could face up to four years in jail as well as the club facing huge financial penalties.
The question of whether Negreira utilised funds provided to him by Barcelona to sway games in the club’s favour will now be decided by the courts based on the strength of the evidence.
Barcelona president Joan Laporta had the following to say about this scandal: “Barca has never bought referees and Barca has never had any intention of buying referees. Absolutely never. The forcefulness of the facts contradicts those who try to change the story.”
Barcelona manager Xavi stated last month that he had no knowledge of the payments. Xavi said: “I always wanted to win, but fairly. If I thought we were cheating I’d have gone home.”
