The unbearable stench of the Enríquez Negreira case

BarcelonaThe stench of the Enríquez Negreira case is spreading. A case turned into a stab at Barcelona. We can look the other way, complaining about the moment it comes out or suspecting who leaked it, but let’s be honest, it won’t change anything: Barça will have to explain themselves well, since their role in this case is very doubtful Either he is guilty of a corruption case for which no evidence has emerged, or his shirt has been lifted. It is not normal to pay these figures for so many years for such a job. And less, entrusting it to the family of the one who was vice-president of the Technical Committee of Referees. Someone has filled their pockets again with club money. Come inflate bills. Years and years of a lot of people taking advantage of the club. The key is to know who, how and when.

“Everybody does it” doesn’t work for me. No, when you boast of being more than a club. The “everyone does it” or the “what about the others?” it’s the excuse of cowards when you get caught. If we lose the ability to be critical of ourselves, we have a problem. No, you have to do the self-criticism, it has to be done by the members of Barça, the managers. Nor does it serve me to criticize the fact that Javier Tebas or other clubs are now getting angry with Barça by collecting old bills. True, Tebas uses it to add points in the fight against the Superliga, but whether we like it or not, he does it by taking advantage of a real case. When you are wrong, your enemies make blood, the law of life. It should be compatible to be critical of the management of Tebas, a point where Laporta is right, without ceasing to want to know what has happened with the Negreria case at the club. In this case, Barça has opened the door to an all-too-easy attack on a character who has been trying to harm the club for years. Barça have put their critics’ heads on a tray and will be the object of ridicule in the coming months, because of an operation that needs to be explained well, as it is very eye-watering to hire someone in charge of the Technical Committee of Referees.

Yes, the managers of other eras have always explained how the referees were going to be received at the stations when they arrived. The famous Ajax of the 70s, which no one can doubt won on their own merits, had a president who accompanied them to dinner and if necessary to the red light district of Amsterdam. Gifts have always been given to referees. But nothing justifies these inflated bills, with an alarming cost overrun. That Enríquez Negreira took advantage of his position to fill his pockets seems indisputable. More than 7 million euros prove it. Now, it has not been possible to prove that this money was used to influence the referees. No evidence has surfaced.

But it is normal that other clubs may suspect or demand explanations. What a shot in the foot, what a sample of the sewer that football can become. What a stain for Barça and the referees. What a need for answers to see who needs to be strongly criticized and, if necessary, brought to justice. My first boss in a newsroom once said to me: “In football, there are good people. But they are the minority. By default, you are suspicious of managers, whatever club they are from. Those who are only there because they love the club are exception”. How right he was!

Content produced by

• Front page

• Last hour

• discover

• sections

• 
  

  Profile