⚖️ FC Barcelona charged with corruption in the Negreira case | OneFootball

FC Barcelona has been formally charged as a legal entity for a continuous crime of business corruption, in the form of fraud, within the controversial Negreira Case. The judicial decision, announced by the judge presiding over Barcelona’s Court of Instruction No. 1, marks a turning point in the investigation examining the payments made by the Catalan club to José María Enríquez Negreira, former vice president of the Technical Referees Committee (CTA). The Blaugrana entity is accused of having paid nearly 7.2 million euros over almost two decades.

This significant judicial development seeks to clarify the nature of these payments to the former number two of Spanish referees and his circle, and highlights the corruption under investigation. The judge has summoned Barcelona’s vice president, Elena Fort, to testify on January 27.

In addition to the charges against the club, the judicial order has scheduled a round of key testimonies. Former president Joan Gaspart must appear in early February to detail the payments made during his term (2000-2003).

The summons also include highly relevant figures for November 25: current president Joan Laporta, for his first term at the helm of the club (2003-2010), and former coaches Luis Enrique and Ernesto Valverde. The prosecution wants Laporta to clarify the "payments made to Enríquez Negreira’s shell companies". In the case of the coaches, the aim is to determine whether Negreira’s referee reports influenced the team’s sporting strategies.

Finally, the court has demanded that FC Barcelona deliver, within 20 days, the original contracts signed with the companies Dasnil 95 SL and Nilsad SCP. These documents, which supposedly cover “paid refereeing advisory services” between 2001 and 2014, are crucial to justify the payments. The club had already been asked for this documentation previously, claiming in 2021 that it had no record of formal contracts.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇪🇸 here.

📸 PAU BARRENA - AFP or licensors