Real Madrid has called a meeting to discuss the attempts Barcelona to influence referees. On Friday, Spanish prosecutors filed a lawsuit against Barcelona and two of the La Liga club’s past presidents for allegedly influencing match results through payments to a firm run by a senior refereeing official. Between 2001 and 2018, the club allegedly paid approximately €7.3 million (£6.4 million) to corporations owned by José Maria Enriquez Negreira, who was president of the Spanish Football Association from 1993 to 2018. Barcelona has categorically rejected any wrongdoing.
Real Madrid stated in a statement that its president, Florentino Perez, had scheduled a board of directors meeting for midday on Sunday “to deliberate on the actions that Real Madrid thinks appropriate in regard to this incident”. Prosecutors believe that, in exchange for money, Negreira favored Real Madrid rivals Barcelona “in the decisions taken by referees in the club’s games, as well as in the results of the competitions” under a secret arrangement. A senior Barcelona official told Reuters the club expected the accusation but said it was “nothing more than an extremely preliminary investigative hypothesis” from the prosecutors and that “now is when the court probe actually begins”.
The official added that “the club would fully comply with the investigation in all means required” and “reiterates that they have never bought any referee nor have tried to influence any official’s judgements”. The club denied wrongdoing in a statement last month, insisting they had simply hired an external consultant that gave them with “technical reports important to professional refereeing”, calling it “a standard practise among professional football clubs”. The complaint focuses on the €2.9 million paid to Negreira between 2014 and 2018, stating that Barcelona formed a “secret verbal agreement” with him with the assistance of previous presidents Sandro Rosell and Josep Maria Bartomeu.
It charges the club, Rosell, Bartomeu, Negreira, and two other former Barcelona officials with sports corruption, unfair administration, and falsification of commercial records. A tax examination prompted the probe. According to El Pais, Negreira informed the Spanish tax agency that Barcelona’s purpose with the payments was to have “impartial” referees in their games.
For more football news, click here
