The judge investigating the Negreira case has ordered the Civil Guard to search the offices of the Technical Committee of Referees (CTA), in the Madrid municipality of Las Rozas, and has accused FC Barcelona of bribery, suspecting that the club could have paid for “desired arbitration effects”.
It may be of interest to you: Barcelona, the ‘Champions’ in suspense, Negreira’s scandal has him against the wall
Barcelona at risk of relegation?
The Negreira case exploded and Barcelona is in suspense over the possible sanctions that could be imposed from Uefa and Fifa; It is not ruled out that the club will be relegated and play in the second division of Spain.
Alfonso Pérez Medina, an expert in Spanish courts, reported this Thursday that the entities that control European and world football could play a very important role in the ‘Negreira case.
We recommend you read: Cristiano Ronaldo receives tragic news before the game: a beloved family member died
Quique García. Efe
The head of the La Sexta courts stated that the club is exposed to strong disciplinary measures that could range from disqualification from the Champions League, or in the worst case scenario, being demoted as punishment for this scandal.
Furthermore, those accused in the Negreira case, such as the former Barça presidents Sandro Rosell and Josep Maria Bartomeu and the current president, Joan Laporta, They risk being sentenced to 15 years in prison.
Details of the Negreira case
Agents from the Economic and Technological Crimes Group of the Barcelona Judicial Police Unit broke into the headquarters of the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) this Thursday at 9 in the morning (local time). in search of documentation related to Barça’s payments to former vice president of the committee José María Enríquez Negreira.
![Barcelona](https://www.eltiempo.com/files/article_vertical_content_new/files/crop/uploads/2023/09/19/650a096deaa32.r_1695920033023.634-0-1112-720.jpeg)
Barcelona in Champions League.
The search, which lasted throughout the day to carry out the cloning of the computers, was ordered by the head of the investigating court number 1 of Barcelona, Joaquín Aguirre, who investigates the fate of the nearly 7 million euros that Barcelona paid to Enríquez Negreira and his son, between 2001 and 2018, and that according to the club they were responding to reports about arbitrations.
In parallel with the search, the investigating judge has issued an order in which he charges a crime of bribery against the directors of FC Barcelona investigated in the caseas well as the club itself as a legal entity, in addition to the former vice president of the CTA José María Enriquez Negreira and his son.
In this way, the crime of bribery, which according to the legislation must be tried by a popular court, adds to those of corruption between individuals in the sports fieldunfair administration, falsification of commercial documents and money laundering that until now were attributed to those investigated, following the complaint filed by the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office.
Also: Barcelona reacts to accusations in the Negreira case: what’s next for the club?
The judge suspects that The payments could have been due to a “novel form of possible illegitimate remuneration to soccer referees”, in a context of “possible systemic corruption within the CTA” at the time when Negreira was vice president of this organization.
![Barcelona](https://www.eltiempo.com/files/article_content_new/uploads/2023/07/27/64c26645a429c.jpeg)
In his latest order, the magistrate justifies the accusation of the crime of bribery – which punishes bribery to obtain favors from public officials– in his suspicions that the former vice president of the Technical Committee of Referees (CTA) and his son received payments from Barça for 18 years in exchange for seeking the “desired refereeing effects” by the club, which implied “unequal treatment” for the rest of the equipment.
Although Enriquez Negreira was not an official, as required by the crime of bribery, the judge considers, based on abundant jurisprudence on the matter, that he did have that status “for criminal purposes, given that he performed public functions as vice president of the CTA, among others. others relating to the qualifications of the referees and their promotions and relegations.
![Barcelona](https://www.eltiempo.com/files/article_vertical_content_new/files/crop/uploads/2023/09/23/650f3e6f06384.r_1695920033070.0-0-230-347.jpeg)
According to the judge in his order, the payments by FC Barcelona to Enríquez Negreira and his son, which he considers documented, “can be considered made in accordance with the position held by” the former vice president of the CTA, since they lasted for 18 years, in which increased from the initial 70,000 euros to 700,000 annually, and stopped coinciding with when the arbitrator under investigation ceased. “By logical deduction, the payments made by FC Barcelona satisfied the interests of the club in view of their duration and the annual increase,” the order adds.
According to what legal sources have told EFE, It would be the first case in which a member of the Royal Spanish Football Federation is accused of bribery. Sources from FC Barcelona have told EFE that the club was already contemplating the hypothesis that the investigating judge would charge them with a crime of bribery, so their criminal investigators are working “from day one” on all aspects of this case.
We tell you: Scandal in world football | Barcelona is accused in the Negreira case: this is the crime
The search ordered by the judge is part of a separate piece of the Negreira case, which the magistrate has opened to carry out various proceedings posed by the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office and has declared secret in order to prevent evidence from being “manipulated” given the “extraordinary economic interests that are at stake”, according to his order, to which EFE has had access.
In addition, The magistrate has issued another resolution in which he requires Barça to, within a period of five days, provide the list of FC presidents
Barcelona from 2001 to 2018, “indicating the date of taking possession and dismissal.”
For his part, the Barcelona coach Xavi Hernández assured this Thursday that “never, never” has he had the feeling that “the referees” have benefited the Catalan club, while the president of LaLiga, Javier Tebas, has regretted that the Negreira case “adds” to the “worrying” reputational situation of Spanish football.
SPORTS
With information from EFE
More news in EL TIEMPO
#Barcelona #chaos #due #relegation #Fifa #sink #club #due #Negreira #scandal