Barca accused of giving money to Spanish referee
Negreira served as Vice President of the Referees Council (CTA) of the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) from 1994 to 2018. The Barcelona prosecutor's office is investigating Negreira, but he did not appear in court because of dementia. Lawyers have submitted medical evidence proving that the former referee had the disease since 2018.
The "Negreira scandal" began to surface on February 15, when Negreira and his company DASNIL were accused of receiving nearly $ 8 million from Barca between 2001 and 2018 for reports and videos related to important information. talent. In which, Barca transferred a total of 1.5 million USD to the Vice President of the Spanish arbitration council for the period 2016-2018. The investigation revealed that he had received money from Barca three times, about $ 570,000 in 2016, $ 580,000 in 2017 and $ 340,000 in 2018, and none of them were in the financial statements of the team.
On March 10, Spanish prosecutors confirmed that Barca, as well as former club presidents Sandro Rosell and Josep Maria Bartomeu, had been charged. They also claimed that Barca had paid out payments to Negreira in the hope of receiving favorable decisions from the referee.
The statement read: "Through presidents Rosell and Bartomeu, Barca has reached and maintained a strictly confidential oral agreement with defendant Negreira. In order to act as Vice President of the CTA and in exchange for money, Mr. will take action for the referee to make a decision in favor of Barca in the matches of the club and consequently the outcome of the tournament."
Current Barca president Joan Laporta, who also held the post from 2004 to 2010, denied the club was guilty of the allegations earlier this week. He insisted Barca had never paid the referee and had never intended to do so.
La Liga president Javier Tebas confirmed Barca will not face sporting sanctions because these charges exceed the three-year threshold, but could review the case once the legal case is over.
According to SPORT, Barca is afraid of being punished by UEFA and banned from participating in European tournaments in the 2023-2024 season. The European Football Federation has the authority to impose a one-year ban in these cases. According to Goal, Barca's official accusation is just the beginning of a long legal process that could end in some form of fine or ban against the Camp Nou owner.
