February 23, (THEWILL) – The latest scandal to hit Barcelona has seen the football club come under investigation for payments totalling €1.4 million made between 2016 and 2018 to a company owned by Jose Maria Enriquez Negreira. At the time, Negreira was the Vice-President of Spanish Football’s Refereeing Committee.
Despite this, he has denied ever favouring Barcelona in terms of refereeing decisions, whilst Barcelona admitted hiring an “external consultant,” who provided reports “related to professional refereeing”. The Spanish Football Association and La Liga have expressed concern, with fans and commentators speculating on whether Barca could be docked points or stripped of former titles.
As it stands, no punishment appears likely, as La Liga said on Friday, it cannot investigate any case that happened more than three years ago. However, prosecutors’ investigations remain open, with the possibility of criminal charges being brought. Both the Spanish FA and Spain’s High Council for Sports have said they will respect the legal process before considering any action of their own.
There is a growing concern about the case, and several former Barcelona executives have suggested that the period in question might be widened. Yet, further information has come to light since the news broke, with Spanish media outlets publishing details suggesting that Barcelona had been paying Negreira’s company since at least 2001. Documents from the newspaper, El Mundo have revealed the value of these payments to be just over €6.6 million, with Enriquez Negreira sending a burofax threatening to “reveal all the irregularities from the club.”
Former Barcelona President, Josep Maria Bartomeu, has acknowledged the existence of the document but has said he did not pay it any attention, forwarding it to the legal department of the club and hearing nothing else about it.
About the Author
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
