In the affair involving millions paid by FC Barcelona to a referee official, the Spanish police searched the premises of the national football association RFEF. The club is being investigated for “active bribery”.
On the orders of investigating judge Joaquin Aguirre, officials visited the offices of the association’s referee committee in Madrid on Thursday (September 28, 2023), state television broadcaster RTVE and other media reported, citing the judiciary. A police spokesman confirmed this information to the German press agency. No arrests are planned, it said.
More than seven million from Barcelona for the official
The investigation began in March after a complaint from the public prosecutor’s office. Between 2001 and 2018, the Catalan club transferred a good 7.3 million euros to the then deputy head of the CTA referee committee, José María Enríquez Negreira.
The responsible Supreme Court of Catalonia said the search was part of the ongoing investigation into “possible systemic corruption” within the Spanish referee committee. Reuters reported that the investigation has now been expanded to include FC Barcelona as a suspect on suspicion of “active bribery”.
Investigators suspect that these payments were intended to favor Barça in the referees’ decision-making. The complaint was directed against Enríquez Negreira and the club as well as its former presidents Sandro Rosell and Josep Maria Bartomeu as well as other ex-Barça officials.
Exclusion from the Champions League? UEFA could restart proceedings
UEFA had decided that Barcelona could temporarily take part in the Champions League. However, the procedure could be restarted ex officio or at the request of UEFA’s ethics and disciplinary inspectors. What would now be possible with new findings.
Barcelona will be allowed to play in the Champions League this season, but must actively keep UEFA informed of the investigations and provide information. The inspectors were also asked to continue their investigation and submit a report to the association, “if and when they consider that the admission/exclusion of FC Barcelona should be assessed”. This means that Barcelona could once again face a possible European exclusion.
Millions in payments at Referee official
The reason for the investigation was that the club had paid millions to a referee official. The public prosecutor’s office had already filed a complaint in the affair on suspicion of corruption. The investigators came to the conclusion that the amounts paid served to favor Barça in the referees’ decision-making, a justice spokeswoman said in March.
Between 2001 and 2018, the club paid more than 7.3 million euros to the former vice-president of the CTA referee committee, José María Enríquez Negreira. Both club representatives and Enríquez Negreira have admitted the business connections, but rejected the accusation of corruption.
Barcelona and Negreira reject allegations
Both club representatives and Enríquez Negreira admitted the business connections, but at the same time rejected the accusation of corruption. Barça’s current club president Joan Laporta said the club had engaged consultant services. But that was “very normal in football at the big clubs,” he asserted.
Enríquez Negreira was a referee in Spain’s first division between 1977 and 1992 and then vice-president of the CTA between 1994 and 2018. The 78-year-old assured in interviews that as CTA vice-president he did not give FC Barcelona preferential treatment in any decision or referee appointment. His company Dasniel 95 SL gave the club verbal advice, for example how the players should behave depending on the referee.