Prosecutors pursue case against Barcelona over alleged refereeing deal

Spanish prosecutors have filed a complaint against Barcelona and two of the La Liga club’s former presidents over alleged payments to a company owned by a senior refereeing official to influence results, the public prosecutor’s office said on Friday. A judge has yet to decide whether to take up the case.

The club allegedly paid more than €7.3m between 2001 and 2018 to firms owned by José María Enríquez Negreira, who was vice-president of the refereeing committee of the Spanish football association from 1993-2018.

Prosecutors claim that under a secret agreement and “in exchange for money”, Negreira favoured Barcelona “in the decisions taken by referees in the games played by the club, as well as in the results of the competitions”.

Barcelona did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The club denied wrongdoing in a statement last month, saying they had simply paid an external consultant that supplied them with “technical reports related to professional refereeing”, calling it “a common practice among professional football clubs”.

The complaint focuses on the €2.9m paid between 2014 and 2018 and alleges that Barcelona – with the help of their former presidents Sandro Rosell and Josep Maria Bartomeu – reached a “confidential verbal agreement” with Negreira.

It accuses the club, Rosell, Bartomeu, Negreira and two other former Barcelona officials of corruption in sports, unfair administration and falsehood in mercantile documents.

The investigation was triggered by a tax inspection. Negreira told the Spanish tax agency that Barcelona’s goal with the payments was to have “neutral” referees in their games, according to El País newspaper.