When it was revealed that Barcelona had paid millions of euros to potentially profit from refereeing decisions for more than ten years, Spanish football was stunned last month.
The business Barcelona was paying belonged to the vice-chairman of the nation’s refereeing committee.
Although the team has denied wrongdoing, it has come under harsh criticism throughout Spain, and on Friday, prosecutors formally accused the club of corruption.
Here’s a look at the most recent Barcelona scandal, which broke as the team was still working to recover from one of its worst financial crises and Lionel Messi’s departure.
WHAT OCCURED?
According to prosecutors, Barcelona paid the firm of committee vice president José Mara Enrquez Negreira as much as 7.3 million euros ($7.7 million) between 2001 and 2018 in sums “not justified because they were not foreseen in the statutes of the club nor approved by its general assembly (of club members).”
Although they were allegedly made in sums beyond market rates, the payments were purportedly provided in exchange for technical reports on referees and young athletes.
Reports on referees are frequently requested, and teams can pay outside firms to compile them or prepare them in-house, like Barcelona does right now. Yet, it is not common practice to give sizable sums of money to the company of a person involved in the management of Spain’s referees for the reports.
The payments were looked into as part of a tax inquiry into the business owned by Enriquez Negreira, a former referee who served on the officiating committee of the Spanish Football Association from 1994 until the payments ended. The committee is in charge of selecting referees for each game, among other things.
There is currently no proof that the decisions taken by referees or the outcomes of games during the time when Barcelona made the payments were influenced.
OFFICIAL ACCUSE
Barcelona was accused by the prosecution of falsifying commercial documents, fraudulent management, and sports corruption.
Barcelona, Enriquez Negreira, former Barcelona presidents Sandro Rosell and Josep Maria Bartomeu, and former Barcelona executives Jordi Grau and Albert Soler are also the targets of the charges.
In order to carry out acts that would favor Barcelona Football Club in the decisions made by referees in the games Barcelona played, as well as in the outcomes of competitions, Enrquez Negreira “reached a confidential, verbal agreement” with Rosell and Bartomeu, who led Barcelona in consecutive terms from 2010 to 20. According to the prosecution, there is enough evidence to support this claim.
Barcelona paid Enrquez Negreira’s company throughout the club’s history, including from 2003 to 2010 during the initial term of the current president Joan Laporta, who would later assume the position again in 2021. Laporta, on the other hand, is not being charged by the prosecution and has said he did nothing illegal. BARCELONA’S VIEWS
Club officials have refuted any impropriety or conflicts of interest. It accepted that Enriquez Negreira’s business received frequent payments, but claimed that they were merely for technical reports and not attempts to sway refereeing decisions.
The link between Barcelona and Enriquez Negreira has not yet been completely explained. The club stated that it hired an outside company to conduct its investigation and that it expects to provide a more thorough explanation of what transpired once that process is complete.
Barca is innocent of the charges brought against it, according to President Laporta, and is the target of an all-out effort to tarnish its reputation.
Enriquez Negreira claimed on Cadena SER radio that he never chose referees for games in favor of Barcelona and that his role was to just advise the team orally about how players should behave in front of each official.
Bartomeu also denied misconduct and claimed Enriquez Negreira had “no control over referees,” according to ABC media.
Coach Xavi of Barcelona claimed that his players were unaffected by the situation. The squad lost their place in the Europa League but advanced to the Copa del Rey semifinals and held the top spot in the Spanish league.
THE ACCUSERS
The majority of clubs in Spain, the Spanish league, and the national football association all indicated their worry and intention to take legal action against Barcelona. They claimed that the situation was harming both the image of Spanish football and of sports in general.
Laporta should quit, according to Spanish league president Javier Tebas, if he is unable to adequately explain the payments.
Tebas told Movistar on Monday that he believed this to be the worst moment in Spanish soccer history. We still don’t have a solid justification from Barcelona, which is embarrassing.
On Sunday, Madrid requested a special board meeting and stated that it was “very concerned regarding the gravity of the facts” involving Barcelona. In order to protect its “legitimate rights” as a “affected party” in the case, it said that it will support the opposing party in the judicial action.
The major sports organization under the Spanish government likewise declared its intention to act. The government will join the other accusers in the legal processes, according to José Manuel Franco, the president of Spain’s sports commission, who made the announcement on station Telecinco on Monday. Pedro Sánchez, the prime minister of Spain, commented on the situation and stated that the administration was awaiting clarification.
The Spanish federation said that after the new administration took office in 2018, Enriquez Negreira resigned from the commission.
Referees from Spain came forward to express their public distancing from the friendship between Barcelona and Enriquez Negreira. Several former officials who were in the game when Enriquez Negreira served as their vice president claimed they never put any pressure on them.
WHAT COMES UP?
The validity of the claims made by the prosecutors will be decided by an investigative judge.
Barcelona was initially not subject to sporting fines because the statute of limitations on any potential infractions had already run out. But, if the club is ultimately found guilty, that might result in a competition ban.
The courts’ next actions were not subject to any urgent time constraints.
