LaLiga president: 'Barcelona should be relegated'

Tom Weber

Updated: 24 Feb 2025 15:24 GMT
3 min read

Joan Laporta, Hansi Flick, Barcelona — © IMAGO

LaLiga president Javier Tebas believes that Barcelona would and should have been relegated for their involvement in the 'Negreira Case' had it not been for the statute of limitations expiring.

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Barcelona stand accused of paying Spain's former vice-president of referees Jose Maria Enriquez Negreira to obtain an advantage from domestic match officials between 1994 and 2018.

This match-fixing scandal has been raging on for a few years now and legal proceedings remain ongoing. Barcelona have naturally denied the allegations.

Several influential people past and present have been charged with bribery, chiefly former Blaugrana presidents Sandro Rosell and Josip Maria Bartomeu as well as incumbent Joan Laporta for his first tenure between 2003 and 2010.

Tebas: 'Barcelona would have been relegated'

Speaking at a Europa Press meeting, LaLiga president Javier Tebas has now revealed that Barcelona would have received a severe penalty had the statute of limitations regarding sporting punishments not expired by the time the matter was discovered in February 2023.

"Sporting corruption is in the criminal sphere and there is no statute of limitations there," Tebas began. "That does not mean that there is buying of referees. We believe that the money that Negreira received was with the aim of influencing promotions and relegations and that is sporting corruption. That has not expired.

"Then there is the sporting sphere. When the facts were discovered, three years had already passed and the statute of limitations had expired in the sporting sphere. If we could, of course, we would [mete out] the corresponding sanctions. If it had not expired, Barcelona would be relegated."

Tebas also had some choice words for Real Madrid president Florentino Perez, who only broke his silence on the Negreira Case and heavily chastised Barcelona when his comments were of 'no use' anymore.

"The Negreira case broke out in February 2023 and Florentino Pérez, who was part of the Board of Directors of the Spanish Football Federation did not say anything, which is why his aggressive statements are of no use to me now," Tebas stated.

"A month after the case broke out, LaLiga held an assembly to discuss what type of refereeing it wanted to have. Real Madrid was not present at that meeting."