Explosive Scandal Rocks Barcelona: Joan Laporta Under Investigation for Bribery
Barcelona president Joan Laporta faces investigation for alleged bribery by Spanish prosecutors, as payments of £63m (€73m) made by the club to former referee Jose Maria Enriquez Negreira come under scrutiny Prosecutors suspect that Barca received benefits from these payments
Spanish prosecutors are investigating Barcelona president Joan Laporta for alleged bribery, along with six others, in connection with £6.3m (€7.3m) payments made by Barcelona to former senior referee Jose Maria Enriquez Negreira.
Judge Joaquin Aguirre Lopez is investigating:
Barcelona and all those being investigated deny any wrongdoing.
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Laporta is one of seven people who are being investigated
Prosecutors are investigating payments made between 2001 and 2018 to Negreira and his company Dasnil 95.
Negreira is a former referee and was vice-president of Spain's referees' committee between 1994 and 2018.
Barcelona are facing charges of corruption, breach of trust and false accounting.
They deny any wrongdoing and say the payments were for consulting work including refereeing reports.
In March, UEFA appointed ethics and disciplinary investigators to look into the case.
Barcelona were granted permission to participate in this season's Champions League; however, UEFA stated in July that a decision regarding their future inclusion or exclusion from UEFA club competitions is still pending.
From 2001 to 2018, Barcelona achieved an impressive feat of winning a total of nine Spanish titles.
'Prosecutors believe Barca were getting benefit from referee payments'
We News' chief reporter Kaveh Solhekol reports that Joan Laporta, the president of Barcelona, one of the largest clubs in world football, has received news that he is under formal investigation for suspected bribery by a Spanish judge as of [Wednesday].
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Barcelona president Joan Laporta served in the position from 2003 to 2010 before making a return in 2021. Currently, he is among the seven individuals under investigation for payments amounting to £6.3m. These payments were made by Barcelona over a span of 17 years to a former referee named Jose Maria Enriquez Negreira.
Negreira went beyond the typical referee role, as he held the prestigious position of a senior referee while also serving as the vice president of Spain's referees' committee for an extensive period. Essentially, this committee holds authority in assigning referees for games within Spain, making Negreira an influential figure in the realm of refereeing.
Now, the intriguing question arises – why did Barcelona compensate him with a substantial sum of £6.3m over a span of 17 years?
All individuals under investigation in Barcelona vehemently reject any accusations of wrongdoing. They contend that these payments have a legitimate purpose - in Spain, it is customary for clubs to compensate referees and former referees for their expertise in technical matters. These referees are engaged on an as-needed basis to provide insights on how referees operate and interpret the laws of the game. Consequently, clubs make payments to obtain technical reports.
However, the prosecutors remain unconvinced by this explanation, which led to the recent raid conducted by Spanish authorities at the referees' committee offices, as they sought relevant documents pertaining to this case.
The prosecutors argue that Barcelona was potentially receiving some form of advantage from these payments, to the detriment of other Spanish clubs, based on their statements in court.
