Prosecutor Opposes Barcelona and Laporta’s Imputation for Bribery in the Negreira Case
The Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office has opposed the imputation for bribery of FC Barcelona, President Joan Laporta, his predecessors Josep Maria Bartomeu and Sandro Rosell, and two former club executives. The public prosecution joined the appeals filed on December 19 by the defense lawyers of the accused, arguing that the accusation of bribery is not appropriate. In their document, the prosecutors argue that the former vice president of the Technical Committee of Referees (CTA), José María Enríquez Negreira, cannot be considered a public official, contrary to the argument put forth by the Barcelona judge Joaquín Aguirre, who is overseeing the case of alleged sports corruption.
If the bribery charge is dropped, Joan Laporta would be excluded from the investigation. However, the two former presidents and the former executives under investigation would continue within the judicial process. The Barcelona Court of Appeals will have to decide not only on this aspect but also on whether or not the offense is prescribed in the case of the current president of the club. FC Barcelona allegedly paid up to 7.5 million euros to the former refereeing official and his son, Javier Enríquez Romero, between 2001 and 2018, supposedly in favor of the club.
Judge Aguirre mentioned in his imputation order that the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF), under which the CTA operates, is an entity that performs functions of a public nature. Thus, he argues that Enríquez Negreira “performed public functions” as the vice president of the said committee. Therefore, he equates him to a public official for criminal purposes by introducing this charge. This hypothesis, contested by the defense with the support of the prosecution, would lead the judicial process to be handled under the jury system, allowing a jury to decide the guilt or innocence of the accused. This type of offense also does not require proving match-fixing, and the payments by the club are already proven. In case of conviction, FC Barcelona, as a legal entity, could face a fine.
Public Functions The judge emphasizes in the imputation order that Enríquez Negreira “participated in the exercise of public functions” during the period he received payments from FC Barcelona. The magistrate argues that, moreover, the club stopped paying him when he ceased his position as vice president of the technical committee. For this reason and “with evidential character,” the judge suggests that the payments were made in consideration of the position held by the then-referee in the body regulating refereeing in Spanish football.
The judge asserts that a vice president of the Technical Committee of Referees, “as a person exercising public functions, must be impartial and treat all teams fairly. Therefore, it is incompatible with the natural exercise of his position to receive a substantial annual remuneration without a contract that supports monitoring the referees directing FC Barcelona and who were under his authority.”
