Spain’s justice system is closing in on the Barcelona. This Thursday (28), the judge responsible for the so-called “Negreira Case”, Joaquin Aguirre, formalized a new accusation against the club, formalizing the suspected bribe payment. Until then, the case was investigated as tax evasion, focusing on former referee José María Enríquez Negreira.
From now on, Barcelona becomes the biggest focus of the accusation. The suspicion is that the Spanish club paid a bribe to Negreira. The amount would be 7.3 million euros (around R$38.5 million, at the current exchange rate), received between 2001 and 2018, for being a member of the Arbitration Commission of the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) .
“The crime of bribery was consummated once the payment was made, whether or not the systemic corruption of Spanish arbitration due to such payments was demonstrated,” said the judge, for whom Barcelona did not use a “traditional payment method”, but “a new form of possible illegitimate remuneration”.
In his assessment, in a document obtained by the Spanish newspaper The confidentialthis represents “possible systemic corruption” in the arbitration committee, since Negreira was the one who chose the judges for each round of the Spanish Championship.
According to authorities, there are currently no plans for the arrest of the then directors of the Catalan club and the RFEF. But this could change in the medium term because also this Thursday the Spanish police carried out a search and seizure at the federation’s headquarters, focusing on the Arbitration Commission, in Madrid. There were no arrests.
In addition to Barcelona, the club’s former presidents Sandro Rosell and Josep Maria Bartomeu and former executives Oscar Grau and Albert Soler are accused in the case. The club’s current management denies any accusations of corruption and claims that the payments refer to the hiring of Negreira as an arbitration consultant to guide the squad and coaching staff.
From a sporting point of view, the Catalan club is not at risk of suffering punishments, as the case has already expired. But there is a risk of sanctions at the UEFA level, in addition to the regular courts.