Prosecutors in Spain charged Barcelona on Friday with corruption in connection with payments made by the club to a former vice-president of Spain's referees' committee through a company owned by him. According to the prosecution, the Catalan club paid more than 7.3 million euros to Jose Maria Enriquez Negreira, a former referee and ex-vice president of the Spanish football federation's refereeing committee, between 1994 and 2018. The Barcelona prosecutor's office has charged two of the club's former presidents, Josep Maria Bartomeu and Sandro Rosell, as well as Enriquez Negreira, with the same offence.
Irregularities in tax payments
"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.
Enriquez Negreira was allegedly compensated for advising the club on referee-related issues.
Payments to Negreira's firm
The investigation began after the Spanish tax authorities discovered irregularities in tax payments made by the company Dasnil 95, which is owned by Enriquez Negreira, between 2016 and 2018.
Between those years, Dasnil 95 allegedly received payments from Barcelona.
According to Cadena Ser radio, the most recent invoice was issued in June 2018. The CTA was then restructured, and Enriquez Negreira left the organisation.
According to reports, the Catalan side paid Enriquez Negreira's firm 6.5 million euros ($6.9 million) between 2001 and 2018.
"Let it be clear that Barcelona has never bought referees and has never had the intention of buying referees, absolutely never," Laporta said on Tuesday.
Dasnil 95 was paid by Barcelona to advise the club on refereeing matters, according to the club. However, prosecutors believe the money was used to corrupt game officials.
Football operations unaffected
On the sporting front, Barcelona is safe because the governing bodies of Spanish, European, and world football have a five-year statute of limitations, according to Liga president Javier Tebas.
The accused could face up to four years in prison if convicted.
Sanctions against the club could range from "suspension of activity...to outright dissolution" as a company, according to Alberto Palomar, a law professor at Carlos III University in Madrid.
The case has cast a pall over Spain's refereeing body, which demanded last week that a single person's alleged actions do not "taint" the "image" and "honour" of all referees.
"The problem concerns us because it harms Spanish football and sport," Miquel Iceta, Spain's Culture and Sports Minister, said on Tuesday.
