Barcelona president Joan Laporta admitted that the team did nothing unlawful after hiring a technical consulting firm. Prosecutors in Spain have charged the club with corruption in connection with payments made between 2001 and 2018 to entities owned by Jose Maria Enriquez Negreira, the former vice president of Spain’s referees’ committee. Sports corruption, business corruption, dishonest administration, and commercial record fabrication are among the charges. Barcelona has always denied bribing officials or seeking to influence them, and Laporta restated that position during a press conference on Monday morning.
“FC Barcelona has been a beacon of fair play both on and off the pitch for its entire 123-year history. If we have triumphed for so long, it is without a doubt due to skill, hard work, and expertise,” Barcelona boss Joan Laporta said. “No attempt to undermine us will prevent us from staying a sporting reference organization, beloved and adored by millions of Catalans and many more millions throughout the world. I am confident that FC Barcelona has never tampered with the competition in order to obtain an advantage.”
“Technical-referee consultation is not deemed illegal behavior. At least during my first tenure as president, consulting was done honestly, with matching invoices,” he added. “If anyone or any private entity outside of FC Barcelona used this context to commit fraud, the club would be the first to investigate. Our reputation is at stake.”
The charges stem from a tax investigation launched by Spanish authorities against Negreira’s firm, DASNIL 95, which he held from 1994 until 2018. After obtaining no evidence that Negreira did anything in exchange for the money, the tax inspectors decided to forward the information to state investigators after discovering three payments totaling €300,000 to €550,000 made by Barcelona to DASNIL 95.
Barcelona has been accused of the crime of ‘continuous corruption in business’ and is said to have undertaken attempts to ‘pre-determine or modify in an intentional and fraudulent manner the result of a match or competition’. The phrase ‘continuous’ indicates that the offense is believed to have occurred repeatedly, over a long period of time, and thus potential sanctions are harsher. Prosecutors accuse the club, former presidents Sandro Rosell and Josep Maria Bartomeu, Negreira, and two other former Barcelona officials of sports corruption, unjust management, and falsifying commercial records.
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