Barcelona corruption news

A Barcelona court heard on Friday that Barca, former club officials and Negreira had been indicted for "corruption", "breach of trust" and "false business records". These lawsuits, brought by the Barcelona public prosecutor's office, target the club, as well as former presidents Josep Maria Bartomeu and Sandro Rosell. "FC Barcelona obtained and maintained a strictly confidential verbal agreement with Jose Maria Enriquez Negreira so that, in his capacity as vice-president of the technical arbitral committee (CTA) and in exchange for money, the latter carries out actions tending to benefit FC Barcelona in decisions by the referees," said the public prosecutor's office. La Liga chief executive Javier Tebas said last month that current president Joan Laporta should resign if he was unable to explain the payments. Laporta responded by saying he will not give Tebas "what he'd like by stepping down" and the charges come three days after Laporta insisted his club had "never bought referees". "Let it be clear Barca have never bought referees and Barca have never had the intention of buying referees, absolutely never," he said on Tuesday. How did we get here? The payments, revealed last month by radio station Ser Catalunya, came to light following an investigation by tax authorities into Negreira's company Dasnil 95. Barcelona made payments to the company totalling a reported 1.4m euros (£1.2m) between 2016 and 2018, and paid Negreira, 77, about 7m euros (£6.2m) between 2001 and 201...

• Barca paid referees chief €1.6m between 2016-2018 • Investigation into payments ongoing • Sevilla first team to make public statement WHAT HAPPENED? It has been reported to a company owned by Jose Maria Enriquez Negreira, the former vice-president of the Technical Committee of Referees in Spain. An investigation is now underway by the Prosecutor's Office, but La Liga are unable to open their own formal process WHAT THEY SAID:" Sevilla FC wishes to express its concern and indignation at the information that, day by day, has come to light through the media, making it clear that it is absolutely necessary to get to the bottom of the matter in order to clarify what happened and who is responsible," " The serious nature of the facts known so far, which call into question or sow doubts about the integrity of Spanish football competitions, also leads Sevilla FC to publicly request that LaLiga and the RFEF, as the highest representatives of Spanish football, with the RFEF also being the highest authority responsible for the refereeing collective, that, when the time comes, they promote and take part in all proceedings that may arise from this case once the investigation has been completed." THE BIGGER PICTURE: Sevilla are the first club to publicly call on Spanish football to look into the so-called " Negreira case". La Liga president Javier Tebas has called IN TWO PHOTOS: Getty Getty Images WHAT NEXT FOR BARCELONA? It has been reported that the club could face criminal punishme...

The Spanish Prosecutor's Office will file a corruption complaint against FC Barcelona, according to ... [+] a report. Getty Images Spain's Prosecutor's Office will file a corruption complaint against FC Barcelona related to its payments to the Former Vice President of the Technical Committee of Referees Jose Maria Enriquez Negreira, a report has claimed. AS explains, this is a crime that came into force during penal reforms in 2010, and also includes alleged fraud in sports. With the payments having allegedly started in 2001 while carrying through to 2018, they would be in the scope of the complaint reportedly set to be filed by the Prosecutor's Office. "From La Liga we will respect the investigation that the Prosecutor’s Office is going to do and, if it decides to file the appropriate complaint, we will have to appear as a private accusation," he "However, it is not possible that [Barcelona can be punished], since between 2018 and 2023 five years have passed and this type of sanction expires after three years." This aside, it certainly wasn't a good look for Barca when news of the Public Prosecutor's alleged intentions broke while Laporta

Barcelona face heavy penalties if they are found guilty of these offences, with the possibility of relegation from La Liga not off the table. News initially broke via AS and SER Catalunya in mid-February of the charges, with three payments of over €1.3m made annual in 2016, 2017 and 2018 to Negreira via a company he owned called DASNIL 95. He was reportedly paid the money to ensure "everything was neutral". Negreira and his son testified before the Prosecutor's Office that Barcelona did not receive any preferential treatment from referees. Indeed, Negreira claims that the money was paid for advisory work to help Barca's players how best to cope with each referee. Let it be clear Barca have never bought referees and Barca have never had the intention of buying referees, absolutely never - Joan Laporta Meanwhile, Barcelona president Joan Laporta issued a firm denial of the charges on Tuesday. "Let it be clear Barca have never bought referees and Barca have never had the intention of buying referees, absolutely never," he said. Joan Laporta Barcelona deny the charges Barcelona released a statement denying any wrongdoing and warning that they would take legal action against any party seeking to spoil their reputation. La Liga president Javier Tebas, meanwhile, has claimed that current president Joan Laporta should stand down if he cannot explain the payments. Javier Tebas has called for Joan Laporta to resign from Barcelona This prompted a spikey response from the Barcelona su...

UEFA swiftly ABC On the cusp of UEFA announcing which teams will contest the next edition of the Champions League, though, Barca are convinced that they will be on the list according to MARCA. Attempting to mend fences with the organization and its president Aleksander Ceferin, Laporta has suggested abandoning the breakaway European Super League project. Furthermore, the club pulled out of a lawsuit with Real Madrid and Athletic Club against La Liga over the CVC deal before the weekend as Mundo Deportivo. After the other nine founders of the European Super League pulled out in the spring of 2021 in the face of fan backlash, Juventus, Barca and Real Madrid were the only three clubs left supporting the potential competition. Last week, though, AS, Juventus sent a letter to the two rivals in El Clasico explaining that they have begun the process to withdraw from the Super League. The Italians allegedly received pressure to do so, or be banned from continental competitions as part of their own potential punishments stemming from open cases with UEFA. UEFA has taken note of Barca's gesture, and would view getting them to scrap their Super League plans as a victory and ultimately the end of the direct threat to the Champions League. With newfound collaboration and understanding between the two parties, Barca, who have qualified for the Champions League as title winners, would therefore not understand any temporary ban from the next edition of the tournament and don't expect it e...

Jose Maria Enriquez Negreira, who held the above role between 1994 and 2018, is also facing charges of corruption, as are Sandro Rosell, Barcelona club president from 2010-14, and his successor Josep Maria Bartomeu, who held the position until 2020. Enriquez Negreira Last week, European football’s governing body The latest twist involves the leaking of hundreds of pages of information related to the case, ranging from bank statements to court papers and documents from the tax authorities, prosecutor’s office and Spanish FA. The Athletic has seen a large number of these leaked documents, and they reveal important details about the situation… What do we know so far? Three weeks ago, FC Barcelona, as a legal entity, were charged with corruption over payments they made to Jose Maria Enriquez Negreira, the former vice-president of Spanish football’s refereeing committee, and to his son, Javier Enriquez. The investigation conducted by the Spanish prosecutor’s office also included charges against the club for malfeasance and false documentation. Enriquez Negreira is also facing charges, as are former Barcelona presidents Sandro Rosell and Josep Maria Bartomeu. Prosecutors started this investigation after Spain’s tax authorities noticed several tax irregularities concerning DASNIL 95, a company owned by Enriquez Negreira. When the tax inspectors looked closer, they realised DASNIL 95 was only working for Barcelona and forwarded the case to the prosecutor’s office. The broader inve...