Prosecutors have officially denounced Barcelona and will pursue legal action against the club following the Negreira referee bribery scandal.
According to Relevo, the city of Barcelona denounced the club as a legal entity, as did former presidents Sandro Rosell and Josep María Bartomeu when officially starting the investigation into the Negreira Case.
The two-year period from 2016-2018 will be the subject of the investigation. It is alleged that the club has paid the former vice president of the Technical Committee of Arbitration (CTA), Jose Maria Enriquez Negreira, almost 7 million euros (£6.2 million/$7.4 million) since 2001. -2018.
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 received money from Barca three times, about $ 570,000 in 2016, $ 580,000 in 2017 and $ 340,000 in 2018, and were not included in the financial statements of the team.
Barca claim they are only interested in referee scouting reports, although their sporting integrity is also questioned.
Despite the club’s stance, the revelations that Negreira offered to “help with VAR” suggest that there could be more for prosecutors to investigate. If found guilty, Barcelona fear they could face sporting sanctions, according to Sport.
This is just the beginning of a long legal process that could end in some form of fine or sanction against the club – the outcome of which will not be known anytime soon.
La Liga president Javier Tebas confirmed Barca will not face sporting sanctions because these allegations 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 accusations are just the beginning of a long legal process that could end in some form of fine or ban against the Camp Nou owner.
