Thursday, March 23, 2023 at 11:20 am• Noel Korteweg • Last update: 11:25

A striking envelope has been found in the safe of former Barcelona director Josep Contreras, who died at the end of last year, the Spanish newspaper reports El País. The envelope reads: “Only open when the world’s greatest disaster strikes before us.” The envelope contains papers with names of banks and individuals, including other former directors of the Catalans.

The envelope has been seized and is currently being examined. The papers in the envelope mention the names of, among others, Sandro Rosell – who was the president of Barcelona between 2010 and 2014 – and Josep Maria Bartomeu, although only his two first names are mentioned. Behind it are the words ‘cheque’, ‘black money’ and ‘Banca Catalana’, which means Catalan bank. The name of a lawyer is also mentioned in the papers.

The envelope found is the next chapter in the Barcelona corruption scandal. The top club is suspected of having paid six million euros to José María Enriquez Negreira, former referee and vice president of the referee committee of the Spanish federation. According to Mundo Deportivo that money was used to appease referees. Negreira would have bought a lot of gifts for the arbitrators through his company.

These include belts, beach umbrellas, cooler bags, cheese, wine and liqueur. Referees were also taken to expensive restaurants, where they dined for at least 2000 euros per evening. Negreira has already responded to the news by saying that he handed out these gifts spontaneously. He would also have been reimbursed.

Barcelona sues journalists and media
Barcelona, ​​in turn, has sued five journalists and several media outlets over their reports of the scandal, it reported Sport and is confirmed by the Catalans to the DPA news agency. The club believes that the people in question are ‘trying to damage the club’ with their reporting. Barcelona plans to charge even more journalists and media in the near future.