And trial court of Barcelona has admitted for processing the complaint of the Prosecutor’s Office against Fútbol Club Barcelona and several former directors of the sports entity for the payment of more than 7 million euros to the former referee José Maria Enriquez Negreira, when this was vice president of the Technical Committee of Referees (CTA), as advanced by El Confidencial this Wednesday.
The Judge Silvia López Mejía accepts most of the proceedings requested by the prosecutors and charges them with the crimes of unfair Administration, corruption in business and documentary falsification.
According to the judge, who agrees with the criteria of the Public Ministry, there are strong indications that the payments, which occurred over 20 yearswere intended to guarantee good refereeing for the Catalan team.
In addition to the sports entity as a legal person, the ex-Blaugrana presidents are also accused Sandro Rosel and Josep María Bartomeuas well as former managers Albert Soler and Óscar Grau, as well as former referee Enríquez Negreira.
The first measure ordered by the magistrate is for the Civil Guard to analyze the documentation related to the companies of Enríquez Negreira and his son, after the Treasury located a network of seven companies through which the payments to the then vice-president of the governing body of the arbitrators were channeled.
In the auto it is established that the payments made to Negreira intended to achieve “actions tending to favor the FCB in the decision-making of the referees in the matches that the club played, and thus in the results of the competitions. Also, remember that the CTA is the body in charge of appointing the referees for each match.
In addition, the Prosecutor’s Office maintains that the payments made did not correspond to any provision of services or real technical advice, as the defenses of the ex-referee and the club affirm. The Public Ministry also ensures that it was a remuneration not provided for in the club’s statutes or approved by the General Assembly and that They had no legal or statutory support.
From now on, the investigation of the case will be assumed by the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office for dealing with alleged crimes related to corruption of special importance.
Source: RT in Spanish