Barcelona have not refuted claims that they made secret payments to a company run by the LaLiga refereeing chief.
The Catalan giants, on the other hand, have insisted that the payments were a “normal practice” and that they were made for advice. They have also stated that the report is intended to disrupt their season, and they have threatened legal action against anyone who suggests anything untoward about the payment.
The payments span across a two-year period and were made to a company owned by Jose Maria Enriquez Negreira.
At the time, he was vice president of the Technical Committee of Refeeres (CTA) at the Royal Spanish Football Federation.
Who Did Barcelona Make Secret Payments To?
The bombshell report came from Cadena SER and states that Barca paid just over £1.2m to a company owned by Negreira between 2016 and 2018. He was vice president of the CTA from 1994 to 2018 and oversaw refereeing appointments.
It is stated that Barca paid £473,310.37 to DASNIL 95 SL, a company owned by Negreira in 2016. Then £481,479.38 in 2017 and £282,784.95 in 2018.
Former Barca presidents Josep Maria Bartomeu and Sandro Rosell have insisted that the payments pre-date their boards.
Negreira meanwhile has not provided ‘any document proving that he provided a service’ to Barcelona and has insisted that is because his advisory role to the club was ‘verbal’.
The Spanish Prosecutor’s Office is investigating the matter, with Negreira and former Barca executives having already testified. Negreira has insisted that he did not favour Barca in any decision or appointment and he merely advised the club on how players should behave towards each referee.
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The former top official admitted that he worked ‘exclusively’ for Barcelona.
“FC Barcelona hired in the past the services of an external technical consultant, who supplied, in video format, technical reports referring to players in lower categories of the Spanish State for the Club’s technical secretariat,” a club statement read.
🚨 Barcelona could be RELEGATED if found guilty of allegations made against them pic.twitter.com/MFuSvC0uFt
— SPORTbible (@sportbible) February 15, 2023
The Spanish football federation have admitted their regret the Negreira’s behaviour have likely violated the ethics of the CTA. They have also offered full co-operation to the prosecutor’s office.
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