Barcelona paid €1.4million (£1.2million) between 2016 and 2018 to a company owned by then referee committee vice-president Jose Maria Enriquez Negreira.
Barcelona’s then-president Josep Maria Bartomeu told Spanish outlet Cadena SER, which originally reported the payments, that they were made legitimately and then halted due to cost-cutting. He also claimed that the payments existed as early as 2003.
Former Barcelona president Joan Gaspart (2000-2003) denied knowing about any payments, while Joan Laporta, both former (2003-2010) and current (2021-) president of the club, declined to comment .
According to the report, the Barcelona Public Prosecutor is investigating DASNIL for corruption between individuals initiated following a financial inspection on tax irregularities in the payments – given by Cadena SER as €532,728.02 in 2016, €541,752 in 2017 and €318,200 per year 2018
It is being investigated as Enriquez Negreira allegedly failed to provide any documentation showing that he had done Barcelona a service. He told Cadena SER he gave verbal advice, including how players should behave in front of each referee. The athlete has reached out to Enriquez Negreira for comment.
The DASNIL company was owned by Enriquez Negreira while his son Javier Enriquez Romero managed it. Negreira insisted to SER that he never favored Barcelona in terms of refereeing decisions.
A statement from Barcelona confirmed the club had received referee reports from a company. It read: “According to the information broadcast today on the program Que t’hi jugues on Ser Catalunya, Barcelona, aware of the facts that the prosecutor is investigating in relation to payments to external companies, would like to clarify:
“That in the past Barcelona have used the services of an external technical advisor who has produced technical reports in video form on players from the Spanish state’s youth categories for the club’s technical secretary.
“In addition, the relationship with this external provider has been extended to include technical reports related to professional refereeing to supplement the information required by first-team and academy coaches, a common practice in professional football clubs.
“Currently, these types of outside services fall to a professional assigned to football.
“Barcelona regrets that this information has appeared at the best sporting moment of the current season.
“Barcelona will take legal action against those who damage the club’s image with possible allegations against the reputation of the institution that could be made on the basis of this information.”
Later on Wednesday, the Comite Tecnico de Arbitro (CTA), responsible for governing Spain, said in a statement: “The CTA would like to clarify that Mr. Enriquez Negreira has not belonged to any federal structure since 2018.
“The CTA regrets conduct that may violate its code of ethics. No active arbitrator or member of the CTA Panels shall undertake any work that may constitute a conflict of interest.
“The CTA makes itself available to the authorities to offer their full cooperation with any type of information it can provide.”
Laporta also commented on the story, saying: “According to the information that has appeared in Cadena Ser, it must be said that in the past Barcelona have used the services of an external consultant for reports on players from Spanish State youth categories.
“Moreover, the same outside agent has been providing refereeing advice, which is very common at the big clubs, as has always been done. In fact, we now have this referee advice in-house, in the organization chart of the club it is in the football department with full normality.
“The news surprises me, it’s no coincidence that it’s coming out now. I would like to share that any biased interpretation implying things that are not correct will be properly and adequately answered by the club. That’s why we reserve all the measures we need to defend Barcelona’s honor and interests.
“And I want to be very clear, Cules: it’s no coincidence that this information has come out now, information like this when things are going well. This is no coincidence.”
(Photo: Getty Images)