Gerard López testified before a judge on Friday regarding the Negreira case, MARCA reported.
The former Barça B coach ratified public statements in which he acknowledged using the referee reports produced by the son of Enríquez Negreira for the club.
“Sí, los utilizaba para tener un mayor conocimiento de los árbitros de esa categoría,” said Gerard López, former coach.
His testimony supports the position maintained by FC Barcelona that the payments made to José María Enríquez Negreira and his son Javier were for scouting reports rather than the purchase of referees.
Toni Alonso, the former team delegate, also gave testimony supporting the existence and use of the reports during the same court session.
Their accounts align with the club’s defense regarding the multi-million-euro payments made to the former Technical Committee of Referees vice president and his family.
Javier Enríquez worked as a consultant providing tactical documentation and match analysis during the investigated timeframe.
The statements from López and Alonso stand in direct contrast to testimony provided earlier by former first-team managers Luis Enrique and Ernesto Valverde.
Both managers testified before the judge that they never utilized the scouting reports compiled by Javier Enríquez during their respective tenures.
The divergence in testimony among former staff members forms a central point of scrutiny for the ongoing judicial inquiry.
Real Madrid requested a six-month extension to the judicial inquiry, but the judge rejected the motion.
Legal representatives for Real Madrid subsequently filed an appeal against the decision to close the witness phase.
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