FC Barcelona under investigation for ‘sustained … active bribery,’ according to court document

By Patrick Sung, George Ramsay and Pau Mosquera, CNN

(CNN) — FC Barcelona and several of the soccer club’s current and former executives are officially being investigated as suspects for “the sustained crime of active bribery,” according to a court document obtained by CNN – the latest twist in an alleged improper payment scandal overshadowing Spanish soccer.

The investigation relates to alleged improper payments made by Barcelona to José María Enríquez Negreira, a former leading refereeing official in Spain.

On Thursday morning, members of Spain’s Civil Guard searched the headquarters of the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) for evidence in relation to the case, a Guardia Civil spokesperson told CNN.

The spokesperson declined to share more details about the search but said that no arrests are expected to be made.

An FC Barcelona source has told CNN that the club does not have an official statement on the investigation but added that its lawyers had considered all possible judicial outcomes – including the current naming of the club as a suspect – and is working and moving forward on that basis.

Earlier this year, prosecutors filed an official complaint in a Barcelona court alleging that the club practiced “continued corruption between individuals in the sports field” in what has been dubbed the Caso Negreira – “the Negreira case” – in Spanish soccer.

Prosecutors alleged several current and former club officials were aware of payments – worth over €7 million (nearly $7.4 million) – invoiced to two companies founded by Negreira, who was serving as a CTA vice president from 1993 to 2018, which “acted on behalf and in direct benefit to Barcelona.”

The CTA is the governing body responsible for deciding which referees and assistants officiate league and national competitive matches in Spain.

According to the prosecutor’s official complaint, filed in March this year, the club is accused of coming to a “strictly confidential verbal agreement” with Negreira with the aim of producing “actions which tended to favor Barcelona in the form of refereeing decisions.”

Judge Joaquín Aguirre López, the magistrate who is presiding over the case in the 1st Investigation Court of Barcelona, said in the court document dated Wednesday that, rather than continued corruption, the alleged crimes being committed by Negreira, Barça and other suspects constituted bribery.

According to the court document, Aguirre López said that the “crime of bribery has been consummated when the payment was made, whether or not a systemic corruption of Spanish refereeing resulting from said payments is proven.”

The court document went on to detail payments which occurred annually from 2001 to 2018, ranging from 70,000 euros ($74,000) to 700,000 euros ($740,000) per annum.

The judge went on in the court document to say that, since the payments stopped when Negreira left his position in 2018, “by logical deduction” the club’s interests were “satisfied” due to the length of time and increase in payment. He added that in his opinion the payments “produced the desired effects on referees,” resulting in “consequent systemic corruption in … Spanish refereeing” affecting soccer in the country.

In February, Barça said that a “thorough and independent investigation” was underway and, in March, an FCB source strongly denied to CNN that the club had at any time bribed a referee or tried to influence refereeing decisions.

Asked about the latest developments in the Caso Negreira during a press conference on Thursday, head coach Xavi said: “You already know my opinion about the Caso Negreira. Next week, there will be another story about Negreira. In 15 days, another one. And in a month and a half, another one too.

He added: “I have never had the feeling, never, and I repeat it, that the referees have benefitted us. Never.”

Commenting on the Civil Guard visiting RFEF headquarters, LaLiga President Javier Tebas told reporters on Thursday that it is a “very important topic to be able to continue the investigations, that’s why there was permission given for the search.”

LaLiga is listed as a plaintiff in the case, alongside Barcelona’s soccer rival, Real Madrid.

Los Blancos said in a March statement: “Real Madrid wishes to express its utmost concern regarding the gravity of the facts and reiterates its confidence in the legal system. 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.”

UEFA, the governing body of European soccer, told CNN that it has no comment while an investigation is underway. However, it has previously said that Barça is provisionally allowed to take part in European club competitions and that a future decision on its admission or exclusion was on hold.

CNN has reached out to Negreira via his company for comment but did not immediately receive a response.

CNN’s Matt Foster contributed to reporting.

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