“Accused of corruption”. The sentence crosses the front page of Marca. “The judge indicts Barça and proves the systematic corruption of Spanish referees”, posted on ABC Front Page. La Vangardia clarifies: “The judge makes an about-face and changes the course of the investigation of the Negreira case. Where he saw sporting corruption, an offense for which it is necessary to demonstrate that the competition was altered, he now incriminates an offense of corruption, a criminal offense for which it is sufficient to consider as illicit the accredited payments that Barça made to José María Enriquez Negreira (former vice-president of the Technical Commission of Referees). The president of the Barcelona Court of Instruction, Joaquín Aguirre, yesterday (Thursday) issued an order in which he notifies FC Barcelona and the other defendants, Sandro Rosell, Josep Maria Bartomeu, Òscar Grau, Albert Soler and Negreira father and son , that they are now also charged with ongoing corruption. This offense punishes a public official who accepts money to carry out an act contrary to the exercise of his function. And, according to the judge, the public official who was corrupted is José María Enríquez Negreira.”
Jorge Vaquero, former legal advisor to the Spanish Football Federation and FIFA, adds in AS: “This means that the judge is looking deeper into the case and we understand better what could have happened. If we look back, it all started with a possible purchase of referees with money, which led to the crime of sports corruption. Subsequently, there was talk of money laundering, as it was believed that the money had left Barcelona and returned to its managers in the form of bonuses. Now it seems that the judge’s thinking has evolved towards corruption, which would imply that Barcelona bribed Mr. Negreira to intercede with the referees in order to obtain favorable arbitrations from his trusted men . The investigations have evolved and continue to evolve, as does the direction of the judge, who seems to be focusing more and more on the direction he wants to take the case.”
“Corruption complicates the judicial future of Joan Laporta: the investigation extends until 2008. The court considers that the alleged continued corruption could extend the statute of limitations and therefore seeks to know whether this offense existed before the presidency of Sandro Rosell”, details La Razon, before projecting itself and discussing the dotted future: “dissolution, closure and suspension of activity: the dark horizon for Barça if corruption is confirmed.” ABC retains: “The judge accuses FC Barcelona of corruption in the Negreira affair: ”The payments produced the desired arbitration effects”. Instructor Joaquín Aguirre maintains that the former referee was paid by the club while he exercised a public function.
Marca summarizes: “Yesterday was not a day like any other for Spanish football. Judge Joaquín Aguirre, president of Court Number 1 of Barcelona, indicted FC Barcelona, former presidents Sandro Rosell and Josep María Bartomeu, as well as José María Enríquez Negreira, former vice-president of the Technical Commission of Referees, and his son , for corruption. The 7.5 million euros paid over 18 years to Negreira continue to mark the future of a Blaugrana club which is exposed to extremely serious sanctions. Corruption between individuals, falsification of documentation and mismanagement could be other crimes that could come into play, as well as former directors Óscar Grau and Albert Soler, who were not in the photo yesterday, but who could be in the coming weeks.”
“The court considers the payments as a bribe, beyond the possibility of proving whether the club was favored, given that the Technical Committee of Referees exercises functions of a public nature (…) The offense was consumed, whether corruption is proven or not (…) The payments had “the desired arbitral effect” by Barça, according to the order,” assures El Pais.
And Marca continued: “The Negreira case continues to advance, more slowly than public opinion demands or even sports justice itself, but the indictment of FC Barcelona by the judge in charge of case means a before and after of an action which calls into question the arbitration system and questions what Barcelona did with these almost 8 million euros used to remunerate the former vice-president of the CTA.
According to Mundo Deportivo, “Barça expected it”. But keep silent. The daily illustrates its paper with a photo of President Juan Laporta chatting with young supporters: “The Barça president attended the Cruyff Foundation Open Day and personally presented the medals to the hundreds of young people and children present. The president has not commented on the news of the Negreira affair.” And to explain: “The investigator of the Negreira case, Judge Joaquín Aguirre, issued an order in which he maintains that the payments made by FC Barcelona to the former vice-president of the Technical Committee of Referees (CTA ), José María Enríquez Negreira, constituted an alleged offense of corruption. A type of crime that does not require proving the falsification of specific matches and that envisages more serious penalties than that of corruption between individuals which has been attributed so far to those investigated. According to the judicial process, it would therefore be a popular jury which would decide the innocence or guilt of the accused.
Javier Tebas, president of La Liga, briefly referring to the “Negreira affair” after the indictment of the investigating judge, in Mundo Deportivo, underlined: “I have to see the documents but corruption is when a crime is committed with a public official.” The Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) indicates on its website that it “is a private associative entity, although of public utility.”
Marca finally recalls Uefa’s position: “Although it authorized Barça to participate in the Champions League this season, it always made it clear that the investigation was still open and that everything remained to be proven.”
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