The Spanish tax authorities believe that there is no evidence to suggest that the payments made by FC Barcelona to José María Enríquez Negreira were intended to bribe referees or influence sporting results. In a report revealed this Monday by Mundo Deportivothe Regional Inspectorate of Catalonia recognizes the existence of payments exceeding 7.5 million euros between 2001 and 2018, but specifies that there is no element to establish “trafficking in confidential information”, influence on arbitration appointments or direct intervention on the outcome of matches. The document also highlights that no payments to arbitrators were detected despite the analysis of bank movements linked to the case.
The report constitutes important support for the defense of Barça, which has maintained from the start that these payments corresponded to consulting services and technical reports on arbitration. The inspectors further indicate that there is no evidence to conclude that Negreira was able to influence the results of the matches, recalling that he did not referee any matches during the period concerned. If this conclusion weakens the thesis of sporting corruption, the legal procedure remains open in Spain, where magistrates are continuing their investigations into the exact nature of the services provided and the justification of the amounts paid.
