Reports from Cadena SER indicated that the club disbursed 1.4 million to a company controlled by the former referee Enriquez Negreira.
FC Barcelona president Joan Laporta has responded with a media stance through the club and the program Qué t’hi jugues on Cadena SER, which alleged that the Blaugrana paid 1.4 million to a Negreira-affiliated firm for arbitration-related reports between 2016 and 2018.
Laporta: “Culés, it is no coincidence that this information is coming out now”
Laporta spoke to the club’s members, noting that the timing of the disclosures seems intentional. He explained that in the past FC Barcelona did hire an external consultant to obtain reports on players in the lower divisions of Spanish football and to receive arbitration advice, a service also used by other Spanish clubs. He stressed that the news is surprising and suggested the timing is not accidental.
The president added that any biased interpretation that insinuates improper conduct would be met with a proportional response from the club, emphasizing that Barcelona will defend its honor and interests.
The Public Prosecution Service is examining the 1.4 million euro payment from Barcelona to the former vice president of the Referees’ Technical Commission
As reported by Cadena SER, the Public Prosecution Service is investigating the Blaugrana club’s payments of 1.4 million euros to José María Enríquez Negreira, the former vice president of the Referees’ Technical Commission, during his tenure from 2016 to 2018.
Cadena SER describes in its program Qué t’hi Jugues that DASNIL 95 SL, a company under Negreira’s name, received payments of 532,728.02 euros in 2016, 541,752 euros in 2017, and 318,200 euros in 2018, with payments ceasing as Negreira left his post in the CTA.