The judge of Barcelona Joaquín Aguirre, instructor of the ‘Negreira case’ on the payments of FC Barcelona to former referee leader José María Enríquez Negreira, has issued an order this Thursday in which he attributes the Barça entity and the rest of those investigated, among them the former presidents of the club Josep Maria Bartomeu and Sandro Rosell, the crime of bribery, considering that the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF), on which the Technical Committee of Referees depends, is an entity that performs functions of a public nature. In this way, he maintains that Enríquez Negreira “exercised public functions” as vice president of said committee. For this reason, he equates it to an official for criminal purposes. By introducing this crime, the judicial process is aimed at being processed by the law of the jury and it would be a popular court that would decide the guilt or innocence of the accused.
The man underlines in the car, to which EL PERIÓDICO, from the Prensa Ibérica group, has had access, that Enriquez Negreira “participated in the exercise of public functions” during the period of time that, at the same time, he received from FC Barcelona. The former referee leader received, through his or his son’s companies, more than seven million euros over 18 years. The magistrate argues that, in addition , the Barça club stopped paying him when he resigned from his position as vice president of the technical committee. For that reason and “in an incidental manner”, the judge points out that the payments were made in response to the position that the referee held in the body that regulates the refereeing in Spanish football.
In an extensive order, with citations to not only Spanish rulings, but also those of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU), Judge Aguirre emphasizes that the RFEF “has the character of a legal-public person”, despite the fact that “legally it is called a private entity”, since it carries out “public” functions, such as the regulation of football competitions. The robe recalls a ruling from the Supreme Court that indicates as possible perpetrators of the crime of bribery any person who “participates in the exercise of public office, with this phrase understanding not only public officials, but all other persons who for any reason circumstances actually perform a public function”. In his opinion, with this “general and broad formula”, The social interest “is safeguarded against the behavior of all those people who, having to fulfill their public duties, do not proceed to comply with them by virtue of the bribery carried out.”
The judge alludes to the fact that the explanatory statement of the 2010 reform that introduced the crime of sports corruption into the Penal Code, which he now leaves as an alternative to bribery, points out that “Private companies that provide public services will be subject to the criminal discipline of bribery”. The judge emphasizes that in his opinion “we are not facing a crime of sports corruption between individuals”, but rather a crime of bribery, which punishes those who request, accept or offer money, gifts or favors in exchange for an act related to the exercise. of the public service. In this sense, he debated between passive bribery (Enriquez Negreira and her son) and active bribery, which he attributes to the rest of the accused, including FC Barcelona itself.
2023-09-28 07:50:44
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