referee affair
Barcelona have asked Spanish LaLiga president Javier Tebas to step down in the affair over payments to former referee official José María Enríquez Negreira. The Catalans surrendered on Monday afternoon a press release out, based on a report in the newspaper “La Vanguardia” followed. Accordingly, Tebas is said to have presented false evidence against the association to the public prosecutor. The 60-year-old reacted and asked the newspaper to print a correction of the events.
“Given the scope of the information published in La Vanguardia on Monday, which links LaLiga President Javier Tebas to submitting false evidence to the prosecutor to incriminate our club, FC Barcelona would like to express their deep indignation, anger and dismay,” Barça said in a statement. The LaLiga leaders urged Tebas to publicly explain himself. The club feels like “victims of a media campaign for events that never happened: Barça never paid referees. (…) The article published today by La Vanguardia is so serious that it should put all clubs in La Liga on alert, as it speaks of practices that are in no way compatible with the office of President of La Liga. For the sole reason that he is usurping powers to which he is not entitled, but also for reasons of dignity and respect for the office of League President, Mr. Tebas should resign from office.”
FC Barcelona official statement
https://t.co/eODs489yZH pic.twitter.com/29DKCeKlWR
— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona) April 3, 2023
Specifically, it was a handwritten document by the late ex-Barça official Josep Contreras with the supposed names of ex-presidents Sandro Rosell and Josep Maria Bartomeu, which LaLiga sent to the public prosecutor. “Barcawelt.de” writes: “His (Contreras’; editor’s note) family has now clarified that the names contained in the document are not those of the former Barça bosses, and accordingly there is nothing to do with the case about ex-referees -Vice-President José María Enríquez Negreira, but with the Causa Soule, which concerns the alleged diversion of funds from the Spanish FA chaired by Ángel María Villar.”
Tebas himself commented on the allegations on Twitter, posting a fax that was sent to “La Vanguardia” for correction. It states, inter alia: ‘Therefore we are far from faced with false evidence (which could constitute a criminal offence, meaning that the article in your newspaper would have defamed me) as it forms part of a criminal proceeding. The document also does not constitute an accusation against anyone, as the document submitted to the Barcelona prosecutor says itself. The headline of your article implies information that does not correspond to reality.”
Tebas wrote about it on Twitter: “La Vanguardia’s report is false and the proof is in the text – the document is NOT false, nor are we blaming anyone. It’s all fake, an act of self-portrayal as a victim.” And addressed to the Catalans themselves: “Before submitting the brief to the prosecutor, LaLiga’s legal counsel informed the Commission of Delegates (…) about the content of the letter and the Document informed. Right to rectification requested from La Vanguardia. Clarified, how about you?” Tebas gave the newspaper three days to correct it. The newspaper “Sport” printed Tebas’ letter verbatim.
.@FCBARCELONA_ESantes de presentar el escrito a la Fiscalía, la asesoría jurídica de @laliga informó a la Comisión Delegada del pasado 21 de February, del contenido del escrito y sus documento. Derecho de rectificación solicitado a la @LaVanguardia.Aclarado y ¿vosotros? pic.twitter.com/HwkWl1Hpz1
— Javier Tebas Medrano (@Tebasjavier) April 3, 2023
Referee affair: Public prosecutors began investigations against FC Barcelona
At the beginning of March it became known that the Spanish public prosecutor’s office was investigating Barcelona, two weeks later the European football union UEFA also got involved. The background to this are payments to the former vice-president of the CTA referees’ committee, Enríquez Negreira, of more than 7 million euros between 2001 and 2018. UEFA would like to discuss the issue at this week’s Executive Committee meeting, with President Aleksander Ceferin speaking of a “very serious” case.
The ad is directed against Enríquez Negreira, the club, its former presidents Rosell and Bartomeu and other ex-Barça officials. Both representatives of the club and Enríquez Negreira have admitted the business connections, but at the same time denied the allegation of corruption. Barça’s current club president, Joan Laporta, said weeks ago that the club had used advisory services. But that was “very normal in football at the big clubs,” he asserted.
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Enríquez Negreira was a referee in the first division of Spain between 1977 and 1992 and then vice-president of the CTA between 1994 and 2018. In an interview with the broadcaster “Cadena Ser”, the 77-year-old emphasized that as CTA Vice President he had never given FC Barcelona preferential treatment in any decision or referee appointment. His company Dasniel 95 SL verbally advised the club on how the players should behave depending on the referee.
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