Barcelona was charged with bribery worth 7.5 million euros to the former Vice President of the Spanish Referee Committee (CTA), Jose Maria Enriquez Negreira, on Thursday (28/9/2023). Barça had previously been charged with alleged corruption in sport, corruption in business, false administration and the falsification of commercial documents.
Police also searched the CTA office at the headquarters of the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) in Madrid to look for documents related to the Negreira case. The judge and head of the Barcelona Investigative Court, Joaquin Aguirre, said that what Barca had done was a criminal act.
The Police said they had not made any arrests and were acting on the orders of judge Joaquin Aguirre, who is investigating the case. “All RFEF personnel have collaborated at all times with the request for information from the authorities. The RFEF remains at the disposal of the Justice for the sole purpose of clarifying the facts under investigation as soon as possible,”.
The 7.5 million euro transaction is said to have lasted from 2001-2018, aka 17 years, and only stopped after Negreira no longer served at CTA. Indictments were also aimed at former Barcelona Presidents, Josep Maria Bartomeu and Sandro Rosell, as well as Negreira’s son, Javier Enriquez Romero.
According to Spanish media, El Debate, the court found evidence of Negreira’s threatening letter to Bartomeu in mid-2018. The letter indicated that Negreira would reveal a series of facts detrimental to the club if Barcelona did not continue making payments.
Judge Joaquin Aguirre assessed from the letter that Negreira was aware that quite serious illicit actions were taking place in the interests of Barcelona. Another investigation was also carried out regarding the money laundering of Negreira and his son who was also in a network of companies that received payments from Barcelona.
A number of punishments await the defendants and Barcelona, if they are found guilty in court later. Negreira and his sons, Bartomeu, and Rosell, will be fined 12-24 months of their earnings or six years in prison.
Meanwhile, Barcelona is threatened with fines, suspension and even dissolution of the club. UEFA, which is the parent of European football, also continues to monitor developments in this case. If proven guilty, Barcelona could be banned from appearing in the Champions League.
