The CTA turns the facts over to Integrity, but any sports sanction would have already been prescribed
The Technical Commission of Referees issued a statement explaining that she was making herself available to justice in relation to the ‘Negreira case’. At the moment, as GOAL has been informed, the CTA has not announced or filed any complaint against the former Vice President of the CTA, while he was paid for consultancy work by FC Barcelona, in a situation that could lead to in a potential conflict of interest. What the CTA has done is turned the case over to the Integrity Department for them to analyze the case. The RFEF bylaws typify the problem of conflict of interest and assume that, had it occurred, it could be an illegal conduct. That, assuming it has been proven or confirmed that Enríquez Negreira’s work was supposedly intended to influence arbitration decisions, something that has not been proven or documented, as so far everything stems from an AET inspection of the former arbitrator and some invoices charged for a “Technical Video Consulting” service.
“Very heavy” sanctions prescribe three years
Regardless of what RFEF Integrity finds, as the journalist Ramón Fuentes points out, in the hypothetical case that an irregularity or crime had been committed, any possibility of disciplinary sanctions against the Barça club could no longer be effective. Because? Simple. The RFEF Sports Act and Disciplinary Code explain that “very serious” sanctions prescribe three years. This is laid down in article 9 of the regulation on violations and sanctions. Violations become time-barred after three years, one year or one month, depending on whether they are very serious, serious or minor, the limitation period from the day after the assignment.
This regulation also states that “sanctions shall become time-barred after three years, one year or one month, depending on whether the offenses are very serious, serious or minor, the limitation period starting to run from the day following that on which the decision by which the sanction was imposed, acquires firmness, or because compliance with it was broken if it had begun”, concluded.
Source: Goal