Barcelona Will Face Punishment From LA Liga for Paying Referee
Barcelona won’t be penalized, according to LaLiga president Javier Tebas, for payments made to the firm of former senior referee Jose Maria Enriquez Negreira.
He acknowledged that the Catalans might still be subject to criminal jurisdiction.
Spain’s statute of limitations only permits clubs to be penalized three years after an offense.
On Wednesday, Cadena Ser reported that Barca made payments of about €1.4 million to Negreira’s DASNIL 95 SL between 2016 and 2018, with further payments possibly going back as far as 2003.
Barca stated in a statement that Negreira’s business sent them “technical reports relating to professional refereeing.”
But, even in that scenario, Negreira’s prior membership on the referee’s committee raises the possibility that the payments still pose a conflict of interest.
“Let’s see how that investigation ends. At LaLiga, we are going to wait and respect the prosecutor’s office investigation and once that has finished, see whether it decides to file the appropriate complaint or lawsuit in the corresponding courts. From there, we will make decisions,” Tebas said.
