Another scandal in Barcelona. From Jose Luis Nuñez’s bribes to IRS inspectors, through the Neymar case, the financial investigations that club’s presidents ordered against their predecessors, and to Gerard Pique’s dealings with Saudi Arabia, the Catalans have a long history of wrongdoings and they had another one, it was revealed. This week, the Spanish media announced an investigation by the Spanish Tax Administration regarding some 1,400,000 euros which was paid to the former Vice President of the Judges Commission, Jose Maria Enriquez Negreira. During the 2016-2018 period. In the meantime, the figure rose to 7,000,000, and the period stretched back as far as 2001. Thus, it is confirmed that as many as four presidents were involved: Joan Gaspar, Joan Laporta, Sandro Rosell and Josep Maria Bartomeu.Barcelona paid £1.2m to a company belonging to then-referees committee vice president Jose Maria Enriquez Negreira between 2016 & 2018.— The Athletic | Football (@TheAthleticFC) February 15, 2023 Initially, suspicion arose due to incomplete tax returns in the mentioned period, and the inspectors found an irregularity in the annual payment of about half a million euros to Negreira’s company ‘Dasnil 95’. It’s interesting that the company, owned by Negreira and his son (who is the director) had only one client: Barcelona. Representatives of the club’s management have already made statements before the tax authorities and the prosecutor’s office, and at the first moment announced that the mentioned payments were made in exchange for advisory services, that is, making profiles of referees, describing their reactions and behaviour on the field so that the players would know what they are allowed to do. and what they must not do. Documentation and video recordings were discussed, while Negreira stated that he gave only oral reports. According to sources from Barca, the material evidence is “somewhere in a drawer”. Also, the club defends itself with the fact that similar reports are ordered by everyone. However, legal practice is not done this way. Clubs usually hire retired referees and employ them directly to advise them, not the active ones, and especially not a member of the Judicial Commission’s board.Tebas on Barca: Not possible to impose sporting disciplinary sanctions, five years have already passedNew evidence and documents that surfaced show that Negreira sent a letter demanding that he should be paid the money he is owed for the rest of 2018, more precisely 267,000 euros, or else he would terminate the relationship of “confidentiality and loyalty”. Six months later, after Barcelona, then under the management of Bartomeu, rejected this, he sent an official letter, through a lawyer, stating that “if there is no agreement, all the irregularities will come to light”. The tricky part will be a potential punishment. Forget about Juventus and Manchester City, probably nothing will happen. Both the old and the new law on sports provide that “very serious offences”, such as this one, become statute-barred in three years. Therefore, neither will we see Barça in the second league, nor will they be stripped of any trophy. Eventually, only UEFA could intervene, with the possibility that the club may be kicked out of international competitions for a while, but that does not seem likely.Not-so-secret meeting between Gundogan’s men and Barca: The Catalans want Manchester City’s captainA criminal proceeding is another option. The Prosecutor’s Office is investigating the crime, which in Spain is called “corruption among private persons”. Negreira, the involved presidents of the club, and Barcelona itself as a legal entity can be accused. The prosecution is currently investigating what exactly was paid, and they are searching for documents and videos. Until then, everyone deals with the analysis of matches played in the last 20 years. Some are making calculations that in the period 2016-2018, Barca was awarded 33 penalties, and only 3 went against them and that in 59 games none of their players was sent off. By paying Negreira, the Catalans won two out of three championships, without his help, one out of four.LA LIGAFridayGirona – Almeria 6-2 (4-0)/Castellanos 8, Tsygankov 34, Riquelme 36, Hernandez 43 – Ramazani 66, Toure 81/SaturdayReal Sociedad – Celta 1-1 (1-0)/Oyarzabal 4 – Le Normand 90+3 og/Real Betis – Real Valladolid 2-1 (2-1)/Juanmi 2, Canales 45+4 – Larin 30/Mallorca – Villareal 4-2 (2-1)/Kadewere 20, Rodriguez 45, 56, Muriqi 63 – Morales 43, Chukwueze 50/Osasuna – Real Madrid 0-2 (0-0)/Valverde 78, Asensio 90+2/SundayElche – Espanyol 0-1 (0-0)/Darder 90+2/18.15: (2.55) Rayo Vallecano (3.05) Sevilla (3.00)20.30: (2.10) Atl.Madrid (3.25) Ath.Bilbao (4.10)23.00: (1.20) Barcelona (6.75) Cadiz (14.0)Monday23.00: (2.75) Getafe (2.85) Valencia (2.95)***odds are subject to change
