Barcelona have been charged with suspected bribery for payments worth more than €7 million ($7.3m) made to companies linked to the former vice president of the refereeing committee, José María Enríquez Negreira.
According to Spanish news agency EFE, Spanish police searched the referees’ office at the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) in Madrid on Thursday for documentation in relation to the case.
In March this year, Soccer Scoop reported that a complaint was lodged to a Spanish court by prosecutors against Barcelona, their former presidents and the Negreiras. That is when investigations into the matter started.
Barça had previously been charged with alleged corruption in sport, corruption in business, false administration and the falsification of commercial documents.
The addition of the bribery charges could now speed up a process that has been ongoing since February when the payments were first revealed.
A bribery offence in Spain only requires proof that a public official or authority has requested money or some compensation to make an influenced decision within the scope of their powers.
Barcelona paid Negreira’s companies more than €7 million between 2001 and 2018 while he was the vice president of the refereeing committee. Negreira had previously been a referee in La Liga.
When the payments came to light, Barcelona President Joan Laporta said that they were for technical reports about referees and denied the club has ever bought referees or influenced their decisions on the pitch.
However, prosecutors accused former Barcelona presidents Sandro Rosell and Josep Maria Bartomeu of having an agreement with Negreira in which he would carry out actions aimed at favouring the club in the decision-making of the referees in the matches played by the club and in the results of the competitions.
Barcelona head coach Xavi Hernandez told reporters at a press conference earlier today that he is focused on sporting issues, and he never felt like the club benefited from refereeing.
“You know my opinion. I have never had the feeling that the club have benefitted from refereeing. Never. I don’t have time to reflect on much more than that, I’m focused on sporting issues. Next week there will be another Negreira story, in 15 days another and then more a month.” Xavi said, as quoted by ESPN.
