Report finds no evidence of refereeing influence in Barcelona payment controversy
Spanish prosecutors have found no evidence that Barcelona’s regular payments to the former vice-president of referees influenced decisions on the pitch.
An investigation into the Barcelona payment controversy has found no evidence that the Catalan club’s €7.5m (£6.6m/$8.1m) payment to the former vice-president of Spanish referees has influenced the refereeing, according to a report obtained by Spanish daily EFE’s Choice.
🚨🚨✅| CONFIRMED: The treasury have found NO evidence against FC Barcelona indicating that the refereeing decisions were NOT influenced by the club in the Negreira case. In fact, documents have been found which support Barça’s stance.@EFEnoticias [🎖️] pic.twitter.com/CYRuz5cjKZ
— Managing Barça (@ManagingBarca) March 21, 2023
The investigation highlighted the possibility of the club continuing to pay for illegal services as no justification or official evidence was provided to justify the millions of euros sent to Jose Maria Enriquez Negreira for business interests.
Barcelona were embroiled in the infamous Negrera affair for almost a month when it was discovered that the team had been paying officials on a monthly basis for almost 20 years.
They have been accused of corruption and reviled by opposition supporters for their wrong doings.
Although the study appears to exempt Barcelona from explicitly using payments to influence their success on the pitch, the investigation is ongoing.
