Barcelona –
Barcelona got bad news. Spanish prosecutors have charged Los Cules with bribes to referees.
Barcelona was accused of bribing the former Vice President of the Spanish Referees Committee (CTA) for the 1994-2018 period, Jose Maria Enriquez Negreira. The Blaugrana paid Negreira 6.7 million euros between 2001-2017.
Payments stopped after Negreira no longer held a position at CTA in 2018. This case arose based on a tax investigation into a company owned by Negreira.
The Spanish prosecutor then conducted an investigation in May 2022 into the Negreira company, Dasnil 95 SL. It is this company that receives payments from Barcelona and is run only by Negreira and his son, Javier Enriquez.
The Spanish Prosecutor’s Office filed a complaint against Barcelona as a legal entity. Los Cules was found to have committed corruption because of payments to Negreira.
As quoted by The Athletic, investigators from the Spanish Prosecutor’s Office have handed down an official verdict on Barcelona regarding the referee bribery case.
Some of the people found guilty were Negreira , two former Barcelona presidents Sandro Rosell (2010-2014) and Josep Maria Bartomeu (2014-2020). There are two former executive officers Oscar Grau and Albert Soler.
The Spanish prosecutor considered that Negreira had influenced the referee to make decisions in matches involving Barcelona.
Barcelona itself has not yet commented on the charges. What is certain is that the Catalan club will have to deal with the courts in the near future.
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