Silvia López, a veteran coroner from Barcelona, faces the challenge of uncovering the truth in the Negreira case. When he began investigating on March 14, he set up a scenario that points to the past and future, where the payments came from and where the money went. In reality, it all relates to the same question: why did FC Barcelona pay 7.3 million euros over 17 years and under four presidents to the man who served as vice-president of the Arbitration Technical Committee for all that time? The investigation launched by UEFA against the club and the lack of public statements from Joan Laporta increase the need for criminal proceedings to clarify any doubts.
Statement, a hypothesis to be tested. Whether Barça face criminal penalties if convicted depends in part on how this conundrum is resolved: paying a fine and, in the worst case – an unlikely scenario given the many requirements of the Criminal Code – a temporary cessation of activity. The club’s top managers are also at stake, or at least Sandro Rosell (2011-2014) and Josep Maria Bartomeu (2014-2020), who have the status of being investigated for three crimes: corruption in sports, unfair administration and forgery.
The prosecution has a hypothesis and has embodied it in the ad that gave rise to the court order: they suspect that Barça paid so that José María Enríquez Negreira, number two on the refereeing panel, would influence them so that they will end up benefit the association in its decisions. In short, the club intended to rig the competition which could lead to a crime of corruption in sport. The Supreme Court just said as a result of the Osasuna case that this is a crime of mere activity; In other words: proof of the association’s intention to manipulate is sufficient for a conviction, regardless of whether concrete payments or benefits of members with first and last names can be proven.
The horizon of an investigation that begins. The hypothesis is not unfounded: It is the result of a nine-month investigation in which the public prosecutor’s office viewed extensive documents – especially those from the tax authorities – and obtained statements from witnesses and investigators. But it is still a hypothesis that needs to be confirmed during a forensic investigation that has just started and that will now have more tools to come to a valid conclusion. And after that, there will be two paths: if the judge doesn’t see sufficient evidence of a crime, she will close the case; otherwise, and if requested by the parties, the case will go to court.
The judge entrusted the case to the judicial police unit of the Civil Guard of Catalonia. And it has given him wide sleeves to act on. It directs them to “perform such investigative procedures as may be necessary to ascertain the reason or work for which the payments were made” as well as “the destination billed by those companies”. López also wants to know the names and surnames of those who held the positions of general manager, CEO, manager, finance director, treasurer or head of the economic sector between 2011 and 2014. For now, the only two managers under investigation are former CEO Òscar Grau and former professional sporting director Albert Soler, both from the Bartomeu era.
The Civil Guard must examine the thousands of pages that make up the prosecution’s investigation and chart its own path. This work can take weeks or months. Once on track, the judge intends to summon all witnesses and investigators needed to testify, and especially those already requested by the prosecution. Among them former Presidents Joan Gaspart (2001-2003) and Joan Laporta (2003-2010). If they were not called to investigate, it is because the alleged crimes that would have taken place under their mandate would be prescribed.
Certainties and doubts about the reason for the payments. To date, no evidence has been found that Barça had any intention of rigging the state championships (Enríquez Negreira was not present in European football organizations). What is proven for now is that two Negreira companies (Dasnil and Nilsad) received 7.3 million from the club; The sum varies depending on the level, but the annual average is over 400,000 euros. Until 2001 there is a paper trail of bills, which does not mean that payments did not start earlier. Moreover, investigative sources are convinced that it all began during Josep Lluís Núñez’s tenure as president.
Negreira himself gave the only indication of the reason for the payments in his statement to the tax authorities. He said Barça feel harmed by arbitration cases against other teams (he didn’t mention any specifically) and he wanted to ensure ‘neutral’ behaviour. During an inspection, the ex-referee went so far as to explain that he had verbally advised Barça, but that no one could find anything like a work contract. In the end, Barça acknowledged that the works did not exist by signing an act of conformity with the Treasury in which they accepted that VAT and corporate income tax could not be deducted.
If it’s clear that the “video technical advice” bills don’t reflect reality, why was Negreira paid? “No one has explained the reason” for the payments, concluded the police, who suspect that the reasons involved were not confessed and that, despite everything, could not be clarified. The testimonies of Gaspart and Laporta, who are forced to tell the truth and respond to all parties in the process, could shed some light. The other person who can, Negreira, will argue that he has Alzheimer’s and is unfit to face criminal prosecution.
Follow the trail of money and wealth. There are also some certainties about the destination of the money. For example, that a good chunk of the 7.3 million was withdrawn in cash “through refunds or bearer checks” by Negreira or his associates (a friend, his secretary). At least between 2016 and 2018, it made up a third of the total he received from the club. These constant withdrawals (sometimes as high as 150,000 euros) lead investigators to suspect that they could be used to pay referees in an opaque manner. Those who withdrew the money said they just gave it to him, and Negreira has also said he never paid anyone. To date, the investigation has gone no further, nor has any arbitrator appeared to have disclosed that on any occasion he received any payments or other favors from the former Vice President of the CTA.
It is also striking that despite Barça’s generous salary, “no wealth increase is appreciated”, according to the police, who in Negreira suggested that a more advanced line (and which is also maintained by the prosecutor) “carry out”. an investigation into the assets of Enríquez and those around you (including your current partner)” to check whether you used the money to buy a home or car, for travel or other expenses. If none of this happened, only two scenarios remain. On the one hand, the former head of arbitration – whom those closest to him describe as a bon vivant who hasn’t withheld anything from himself – spent everything. The second is that this money “would have been passed on to third parties related to him”.
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