LaLiga president rules out punishing Barcelona; understand

Javier Tebas, president of LaLiga, the entity that organizes the Spanish Championship, publicly manifested himself this Thursday (16) about the payment of the barcelona to a former referee and former head of the Technical Committee of Referees (CTA) in Spain. The club recognized the controversial act on Wednesday (15).

Tebas said that the Catalan club should not suffer any consequences in the sporting field because the payment took place at least five years ago.

“It is not possible to have disciplinary sanctions. Five years have passed and this type of punishment expires after three years of the occurrence of the facts. On a sporting level, it is not possible (to have a punishment), but there can be, yes, on a criminal level. Now the Public Prosecutor’s Office is investigating the facts that could constitute a crime between private parties.”

The case came to light on Wednesday, when a Spanish radio station revealed that the Barça paid 1.4 million euros, equivalent to R$ 7.7 millionto José María Enríquez Negreira between 2016 and 2018. Negreira, a former football referee, was vice-president of the Technical Committee of Referees (CTA) in Spain between 1994 and 2018.

According to SER Catalunya radio, Barcelona paid 532.7 thousand euros (R$ 2.9 million) to the company DASNIL 95 SL, from Negreira, in 2016. The following year, it was 541.7 thousand euros (R$ 3 millions). And another 318.2 thousand euros (R$ 1.7 million) in 2018, the year of the last payment, which coincides with the end of Negreira’s mandate at CTA

Barcelona confirmed the payment and denied any wrongdoing. He said it was “common practice” in the world of professional football. “The relationship with the external provider itself was expanded with technical reports related to professional arbitration, in order to complement the information required by the technical committee of the main team and the subsidiary, a common practice in professional football clubs.”

“Once the facts are analyzed, several things become clear. The first, which is evident, is that in 2018 and in previous years, the compliance rules, which control the interests of Barcelona and the Referees Committee, did not work because these services should not have been provided,” said Tebas.

The official also stated that LaLiga will determine whether there was “any interference or intervention by Mr. Negreira” in the definition of a referee for Barcelona games in Espanyol. “Both aesthetically and ethically these things cannot happen in Spanish football,” he warned.