Jose Maria Enriquez Negreira received the money over a two-year period
Barcelona paid £1.2m to a company belonging to the-then referees committee vice president Jose Maria Enriquez Negreira between 2016 and 2018.
Barça’s president at the time, Josep Maria Bartomeu, told the Spanish outlet Cadena SER, who initially revealed the news of the payments, that they were legitimately made then ended as part of a cost cutting exercise.
Bartomeu also claimed that payments had dated all the way back to 2003.
Former Barcelona Joan Gaspart (2000-2003) denied any knowledge of payments being made while current president Joan Laporta, who also served as president between 2003 and 2010, declined to comment.
The club’s prosecutor office are investigating DASNIL for corruption between individuals and that was started because of a treasury inspection into tax irregularities with the payments, which were reported to be €532,728.02 in 2016, €541,752 in 2017 and €318,200 in 2018.
An investigation has taken place because Enriquez Negreira allegedly failed to provide documentation to show he was providing a service to the Catalan club.
A statement from the LaLiga side said: “After the information broadcast today on the programme Que t’hi jugues on Ser Catalunya, Barcelona, knowing the facts which the Prosecutor’s Office is investigating related to payments made to external companies, wants to make clear:
“That in the past Barcelona contracted the services of an external technical consultant, who provided, in video form, technical reports referring to players from the youth categories of the Spanish state for the club’s technical secretary.
“Additionally, the relationship with this external provider expanded to technical reports related to professional refereeing, with a view to complementing the information required by the first-team and academy coaching staff, a usual practice in professional football clubs.
“At present, these types of external services fall to a professional assigned to the Area of Football.
“Barcelona regrets that this information appeared just at the best sporting moment of the present season.
“Barcelona will take legal action against those who damage the club’s image with possible insinuations contrary to the reputation of the institution which could be produced based on this information.”
El presidente @JoanLaportaFCB, sobre la información emitida hoy en el programa 'Què t’hi jugues' de Ser Catalunya pic.twitter.com/8G7mVyYrle
— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona_es) February 15, 2023
Ahead of their Europa League tie against Manchester United, Xavi stressed that he is only focus is matters on the pitch.
“I try to focus on football, but this club has these kinds of stories too,” he said. “I’ve been told we have done a public statement, and I follow what the club says. I think it has happened in years I was not involved with the club, but I will always defend the institution.
“We always analyse referees from an internal perspective. We check how they conduct the game, if they are very communicative or not… those are things we work on from a long time ago, but on an internal level.”
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