Barcelona president Laporta investigated for bribery
Tom Weber
- Updated: 18 Oct 2023 13:24 BST
- 3 min read
Barcelona president Joan Laporta has been added to the list of individuals investigated as part of the Negreira Case.
According to Spanish media, the Blaugrana chief will also be investigated for his part in the match-fixing scandal that has seen Barcelona accused of paying the former vice-president of referees Jose Maria Enriquez Negreira to obtain an advantage from domestic match officials.
The Catalan giants deny the accusations, but Laporta has now been included in the investigations by Judge Joaquin Aguirre. Initial reports claimed that Laporta had been informed of this on Wednesday morning, but Mundo Deportivo writes that "sources close to the president point out that they have no record of notification of this new condition for Laporta."
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Laporta is indicted for his first tenure as Barcelona president which lasted for seven years between 2003 and 2010. This is seen as a new interpretation of the statute of limitations from Aguirre. If the reports are true, Laporta will join ex-presidents Sandro Rosell and Josip Maria Bartomeu in being under investigation.
Barcelona consequences
The exact punishments that are to be meted out for the 'Casa Negreira,' if found guilty, are not yet known. As the club as an entity is itself among the defendants, the consequences could be dire, however.
The Telegraph wrote in September that a guilty verdict could see Barcelona "be suspended from trading as a professional football club, which would likely plunge the 124-year-old member-owned entity into bankruptcy."
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Negreira was a public servant at the time of the alleged payments, asserts the judge, meaning that the charges of bribery are more serious and, therefore, require a more severe punishment.
UEFA have launched a separate investigation which could culminate in Barcelona being banned from its European competitions, but a verdict is not expected to be given until the Spanish courts pass their judgements to avoid potential legal trouble should the club be acquitted by the latter.
