FC Barcelona: Spanish Giants Charged With Corruption in Referee Affair

• Barcelona have been charged by Spanish proscutors with corruption
• The Catalans allegedly paid £1 million over three seasons to the ex-vice president of LaLiga referees
• Javier Tebas has stated that Barcelona will not be punished amid their referee payment scandal

Spanish prosecutors have charged Barcelona with corruption over payments the club made to a former vice president of Spain's referees' committee through a company owned by him.

Barcelona had paid the company of Enrique Negreira, former Vice President of the Technical Committee of Referees €1.4m, which has caused much resentment within La Liga teams.

While the club have denied any wrongdoing, recent information seems to suggest Barcelona were receiving preferential treatment for their payments.

And now according to the prosecution, the Catalan club paid a total of more than 7.3 million euros to Negreira between 1994 and 2018.

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Letters from Negreira to the club imply that he tried to blackmail the Catalans after they stopped payments to him.

Two of the club's former presidents, Josep Maria Bartomeu and Sandro Rosell, as well as Enriquez Negreira are facing the same charge, originating from the Barcelona prosecutor's office.

Enriquez Negreira was allegedly paid for providing the club with advice on topics relating to referees.

"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," explained the Barcelona public prosecutor's office.

The investigation began after Spain's tax authorities identified irregularities in tax payments made between 2016 and 2018 by the company Dasnil 95 -- owned by Enriquez Negreira.

Dasnil 95 reportedly received payments from Barcelona between those years.

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The last invoice, according to Cadena Ser radio, was issued in June 2018. After that the CTA was restructured and Enriquez Negreira left the organisation.

Negreira offered to help Barca with VAR

As noted by Marca, Negreira also offered to help them with VAR. New evidence has come to light that the official contacted Barcelona in 2020, offering to help them with the technology which had come out two years earlier.

"I can help you with VAR. If you are interested, contact me," an alleged message from him reads.

La Blaugrana didn't respond to the offer but Negreira's willingness to help has raised more questions about the club's relationship with him.

Barcelona's current president, Joan Laporta has strongly denied the club have paid to influence the referees in the past, Football Espana reported.

His comments also seem to suggest that allegations are only surfacing now because Barcelona are doing well in La Liga.

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"Let it be clear that Barca have never bought referees nor had the intention to buy referees. Absolutely never. The forcefulness of the facts contradicts those who try to change the story. We are doing well again, nothing is accidental,” he said.

Barcelona launch internal investigation

Meanwhile, Barcelona has announced that they have started an internal investigation into the Negreira case while other La Liga teams have called for an investigation into the club, AS Sport reports.

The club's vice president Rafael Yuste revealed on Barca TV that a law firm has been hired by the compliance department to launch an investigation.

The club is also promising transparency throughout the investigations as members who are found guilty are expected to be sanctioned.

Barcelona could face European ban

Earlier, Sports Brief reported Barcelona are accused of paying approximately €1,4 million to Enriquez Negreira’s company, Dansil 95.

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The payments were made over a period of 3 years, while Negreira was the Vice-President of the Referees Committee in La Liga.

European football’s governing body has the power to ban Barcelona from European competitions if they are found guilty of paying for favours from referees during games.