FC Barcelona is said to have paid money to a member of the refereeing committee. This was reported by journalists and the media, against which the club is now taking legal action.
FC Barcelona has sued nine journalists and media over reports that the club paid millions to a referee official.
They tried to damage the club’s reputation with information about payments from the Catalan club to the former vice-president of the CTA referees committee, José María Enríquez Negreira, the newspaper “Sport” reported on Wednesday on the justification for the lawsuits. Another five such lawsuits are in preparation.
It was not initially known which journalists and media were involved. FC Barcelona confirmed the media report on request. Club representatives and Enríquez Negreira have admitted the business connections, but rejected the allegation of corruption.
Barça is suspected of corruption
In the affair of the millions in payments, the public prosecutor’s office had filed a complaint almost two weeks ago on suspicion of corruption. Investigators had come to the conclusion that the amounts served to favor Barça in the referee’s decision-making process, a justice spokeswoman said on March 10. Between 2001 and 2018, the club paid more than 7.3 million euros.
The ad is directed against Enríquez Negreira and the club and also against its former presidents Sandro Rosell and Josep Maria Bartomeu and other ex-Barça officials. The affair hit Barça, where the German national goalkeeper Marc-André ter Stegen is also under contract, in a sportingly successful phase. The club currently lead the Primera División by 12 points, ahead of champions and arch-rivals Real Madrid.
Barça’s current president Joan Laporta announced the club will defend itself against the attacks, which he denounced as “a campaign to destabilize the team and control the club”. He would soon give details.
