Barcelona has been charged with corruption over payments the club made to Jose Negreira, the ex-vice-president of Spain’s referees’ committee.
Last month it emerged that Barca paid Negreira and his company a reported total of £7.4m between 2001 and 2018.
A Barcelona court heard on Friday that Barca, former club officials and Negreira had been indicted for “corruption”, “breach of trust” and “false business records”.
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These lawsuits, by the public prosecutor’s office, target the club, and former presidents Josep Maria Bartomeu and Sandro Rosell.
“FC Barcelona obtained and maintained a strictly confidential verbal agreement with Jose Maria Enriquez Negreira so that, in his capacity as vice-president of the technical arbitral committee (CTA) and in exchange for money, the latter carries out actions tending to benefit FC Barcelona in decisions by the referees,” said the public prosecutor’s office.
La Liga chief executive Javier Tebas said last month that current president Joan Laporta should resign if he was unable to explain the payments.
Laporta responded by saying he will not give Tebas “what he’d like by stepping down”. The charges come three days after Laporta insisted his club had “never bought referees”.
The scandal comes as Barcelona looks to raise funding for the revamp of its Spotify Camp Nou stadium.
Real Madrid to support corruption charges
Madrid say they will support the corruption charges against Barcelona over money paid to Jose Negreira.
Real are prepared to “defend their interests” when proceedings are opened.
They held a board meeting on Sunday to discuss the issue, outlining their position after having “inspected the serious accusations”.
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“Real Madrid wishes to express its utmost concern regarding the gravity of the facts and reiterates its confidence in the legal system,” said the reigning Spanish champions.
“The club has agreed that, in defence of its legitimate rights, it will appear at the trial when the judge opens it up to the affected parties.”
Joan Laporta insists the club is the “victim of a campaign” to “harm its honourability”, urging fans to remain “calm”.
“It is no surprise and we will defend Barca and prove that the club is innocent,” he tweeted.
