Barcelona paid at least 1.4 million to Enríquez Negreira, vice-president of referees
Josep Maria Bartomeu backed a request from prosecutors on a Monday to compel Barcelona Football Club’s former vice president to pay his company 1.4 million dollars for services rendered between 2016 and 2018. The investigation, which also involves the Technical Referee Committee (CTA) and the tax authorities, centers on Enríquez Negreira and a network around his business dealings. Other club executives, including Albert Soler and Òscar Grau, have been cited in discussions about similar arrangements. The son of Enríquez Negreira, Javier Enriquez Romero Dasnil, is identified as a partner in the company under scrutiny.
As Bartomeu told El Periódico de Catalunya, the services provided by Enríquez Negreira’s son were deemed necessary and requested by Barcelona directors Pep Segura and Óscar Grau. Payments reportedly stopped in 2018 in an effort to reduce expenses. The club characterized the services as useful and utilized across the organization, including reports used by the first team, assistant coaches, delegates, and players. The son of Enríquez Negreira allegedly prepared videos and offered guidance on evaluating refereeing decisions, creating referee profiles, and analyzing games from the referees’ perspective.
When Bartomeu shifted to an internal model for these services in 2001, he faced inquiries about the involvement of the arbitration official’s family and the potential conflict of interest. He explained that he learned Enríquez Negreira was a partner in the company and acknowledged that the appearance of impropriety was a concern. Nonetheless, he argued that referees did not assist Barcelona; if anything, he suggested the opposite. He also speculated that the tax issue might stem from an internal dispute at the firm associated with the Dasnil 95 entity, rather than from direct club influence.
Gaspart reaction
In 2004, Enríquez Negreira appointed his son as the sole director of the family business, which specialized in administration and management for technology firms. The son had a varied football background, playing in Barcelona’s youth categories and later for other clubs, including Espanyol, Sabadell, Sant Andreu, Hospitalet, and Valencia. He subsequently started an audiovisual production company devoted to tactical and refereeing analysis and led Valencia’s audiovisual department. He worked with noted coaches and teams, including time as a technical assistant to Jorge Valdano, Claudio Raineri, and Luis Aragonés, and later contributed to Spain’s national team during major tournaments. The family’s footprint extended into mental coaching work with players across different clubs, including stints at Girona and Barcelona at various periods.
Joan Gaspart, speaking on the Tot Costa program on Catalunya Ràdio, said that during his era there were no reports about referees or related analyses as a routine practice. He recalled sitting near officials and asserted he never discussed refereeing with any official in a way that could affect Barça’s interests. The broader debate around referee analysis and external consultancy remains a point of contention in discussions about how decisions are evaluated and valued by major clubs.