Former Vice President of the Refereeing Committee in Spain, José María Enríquez Negreira, is set to testify as a defendant after a judge dismissed his claim of dementia. Negreira's companies received payments from Barcelona, and he had previously cited his condition as a reason for being incapable of being questioned. However, the judge ruled that while Negreira does suffer from some memory impairment, he is mentally capable of appearing in court and potentially facing prosecution.
Barcelona had paid Negreira's companies over €7 million ($7.3m) between 2001 and 2018, during his tenure as the vice president of the committee. Prior to this role, Negreira was a referee in the Spanish top flight. Last March, he and his son, Javier Enríquez Romero, were charged with corruption in relation to these payments. Barcelona itself, along with former club presidents Sandro Rosell and Josep María Bartomeu, as well as former executives Oscar Grau and Albert Soler, were also charged.
Subsequently, in September, bribery charges were added as the judge considered that Negreira 'exercised public functions' as vice president of the committee, which classified him as a civil servant. This legal development also brought current Barcelona president Joan Laporta into the line of fire. The judge ruled that Laporta's first term in charge, which spanned from 2003 to 2010, should not be time-barred, and he too was charged with bribery.
Throughout the legal proceedings, Laporta and the club have vehemently denied any wrongdoing, emphasizing that the payments were made for 'technical reports about referees' and categorically denying any involvement in bribing referees or attempting to influence their decisions.
Prosecutors, however, have accused Rosell and Bartomeu of having an agreement with Negreira that involved him taking actions to favor Barcelona in the decision-making processes of referees during the club's matches, thus affecting the outcomes of competitions. Rosell served as Barcelona president from 2010 to 2014 before Bartomeu took over. Bartomeu, after six years at the helm of the Catalan club, resigned in 2020, with Laporta later assuming the presidency in 2021.
Negreira has now been summoned to testify on February 21st, allowing the legal process to move forward. As this ongoing case unfolds, it will be necessary to carefully examine the evidence presented and analyze the extent of the alleged corruption and influence on refereeing decisions. The outcome of this trial will have significant implications for the individuals involved and potentially impact the reputation of Barcelona as well.
