Caso Negreira latest: Police do not suspect Barcelona of using payments to influence referees

Barcelona are being investigated by the Anti-Corruption department of the Spanish police, but their working theory is not that the Blaugrana paid Jose Maria Enriquez Negreira and his son in order to influence football matches.

As per El Mundo (via Marca), who broke the case, the Guardia Civil suspect that the payments were a form of securing kickbacks for Barcelona directors. Enriquez Negreira was paid €7.3m over the course of 17 years between 2001 and 2018, and the focus of the investigation has been to follow where that money ended up.

The €7.3m did not appear to end up in Negreira’s possession, at least so far as has been found. They are also aware that Negreira took out large quantities of cash from the accounts Barcelona paid, and the police now believe that it ended up back with directors at Barcelona.

This story contradicts recent assertions by ex-police chief Jose Maria Villarejo, who claims that Real Madrid were also involved in the Caso Negreira, but that the case was dropped by the government after he was sent to spy on the Barcelona board.

Until the investigation is finalised, there will be little clarity on the matter. If the latest version of events is accurate though, it would at least liberate Barcelona from sporting sanctions, such as a potential ban from European competitions by UEFA. However it could also begin an inquest into the club’s leadership which stretches across over 20 years.

Tags Barcelona Caso Negreira Enriquez Negreira Javier Enriquez Romero

2 Comments

  1. “The €7.3m did not appear to end up in Negreira’s possession, at least so far as has been found. They are also aware that Negreira took out large quantities of cash from the accounts Barcelona paid, and the police now believe that it ended up back with directors at Barcelona.”

    This has to be some of funniest sh.t ever written ahahahah.

    He took out money with purpose to put the money back.

    Ridiculous.

  2. The club have already reported Bartomeu for corruption and financial malfeasance, and he’s close to standing trial. I’ve no doubt he’s done what he’s being accused of, but if he’s not alone in this then it shouldn’t stop with him. This certainly looks like embezzlement and money laundering to me; turn over every rock until ALL of the guilty parties are found and punished severely, no matter who they are.

    The players, and the fans, don’t deserve this.

Comments are closed

La Liga - Club News