UEFA’s ethics committee will also investigate the corruption scandal that Barcelona has been dealing with for some time. Inspectors from the European federation must determine whether the Catalans have violated UEFA rules in the Negreira case. Earlier it was leaked that José María Enriquez Negreira, former referee and vice president of the referee committee of the Spanish federation, received money from Barcelona.
The Negreira case has graced the headlines in Spain for weeks. Barcelona is suspected of making millions in payments to a company owned by Negreira. In total, it would be an amount of six million euros, spread over a period from 2000 to 2018. Barcelona has now been charged with corruption, which in the worst case could lead to a relegation from LaLiga.
“The problem that is happening now is the worst I can remember,” LaLiga president Javier Tebas recently told Movistar channel Vamos. “There have been payments from Barcelona to the Vice President of the Referee Commission. That’s abnormal. It is understandable that this causes tension. Football’s reputation is at stake. I am ashamed. We have not heard a good explanation from Barcelona.”
On Tuesday, the former referee boss Negreira already had to explain the money he received from Barcelona. According to Negreira, this had nothing to do with bribery. “I watched matches and informed the club why certain decisions were made by the referee in question. My job was to give technical advice on refereeing, because Barcelona wanted everything around the referees to be neutral.”
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