Barcelona charged with bribery by Spanish court

Stuart Telford

• 28 Sept 2023 14:09 BST
• 3 min read

Barcelona have been accused of bribery by the judge in charge of the 'Negreira case' which saw €7.5 million paid to former referee Jose Maria Enriquez Negreira.

Barca stand accused of paying Negreira, the former vice-president of referees, €7.5 million over 17 years, and the club - as well as several key people who held roles at the club during the years in question - has now been charged.

That was the view of judge Joaquin Aguirre, according to papers leaked to Spanish newspaper El Debate, with Barca, which adjudges the payments made to constitute a crime, and FC Barcelona as a single entity that can be charged.

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"Josep Maria Bartomeu and Sandro Rosell, former presidents of Barça, and Jose Maria Enriquez Negreira and his son Javier Enriquez Romero, at the centre of the corruption plot, have also been charged with bribery," reports El Debate's Alejandro Entrambasaguas.

Laporta defiant on Barca's behalf

Aguirre reportedly considers that "there is criminal conduct since Barca paid Negreira for the position of power he held. In the documents, he states that the payments were made 'in response to the position he held.'"

In Spain, bribery has the more serious penalties than 'crimes of corruption,' which Barca have been accused of before now. Although the club has now been charged, no arrests are planned, as reported by Marca.

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Current Barca president Joan Laporta has previously described the Negreira case as a 'conspiracy' against the club. "In its 125 years of history, Barca has been a model of fair play on and off the field," he said. "Barca will emerge from this unharmed."

Barca appear to be putting out fire after fire in recent seasons. They remain in the €1.35 billion debt they had when they lost cub legend Lionel Messi on a free transfer to Paris Saint-Germain in 2021, although it has been restructured, and were told by La Liga to raise €200m if they wanted to defend their title this season.