Last week Barcelona were charged by the court magistrate with bribery for their payments to Jose Maria Enriquez Negreira in the so-called Caso Negreira. However there is a key legal interpretation upon which that charge could hinge on.
Barcelona are also being investigated for ‘systemic sporting corruption’, but are yet to be formally charged. The Blaugrana have admitted to paying the former Vice-President of the Technical Committee for Referees (CTA) to the tune of €7-8m between 2001 and 2018.
However the bribery charge in theory is easier to prove, given there does not need to be proof that the influence or results from the payment were carried out, rather just the intention to pay for influence. The charge of bribery dismisses Barcelona’s claim that the payments were for consultancy and refereeing scouting reports.
The Judge Joaquin Aguirre argues that the bribery charge can apply based on the fact that Negreira can be considered a public functionary. This is based on three tenets considering that the RFEF and the CTA are public organisations: it was created in the general interest, it has its own legal responsibility, and it is under the supervision of the Ministry for Culture and Sport.
However Cadena SER report that Barcelona may be able to argue against that characterisation of Negreira. The Sports Law in Spain requires that the RFEF create an organism responsible for the direction and management of refereeing in acccordance with international standards. FIFA, who set those standards, require that under no circumstances must those organisms be under the supervision or control of any other organism, as well as prohibiting any political interference or interference from government organisations in order to guarantee its independence.
Thus Barcelona may argue that the CTA could only constitute a private organisation, and Negreira would not be a public functionary. The report also claims that that ‘good number’ of previous Supreme Court rulings regard the Federations as private organisations rather than public.
In addition, if it is found that the Spanish Government had control or supervision over the CTA, then it could have repercussions for the Spanish national team. If Federations cannot guarantee their refereeing independence, they risk sanctions, where previously Greece were suspended in 2006 for political interference.
No doubt both sides of the case will present their arguments with conviction that they are correct. The likelihood is that it will take some time for the case to be resolved.
