Former Barca presidents deny corruption in the appearance of Ref Scandal Court

Former Barcelona presidents Sandro Rosell and Josep Maria Bartomeu got on Thursday that payments that the club made to a former referee head during their time were not corrupt, during a court performance on Thursday.

The club and some former officials are being investigated as part of the «Negreira case», after they have paid a company that is owned by Jose Maria Enriquez Negreira more than 7.3 million euros ($ 8.6 million) between 2001 and 2018, submitted in 2023 that was submitted in 2023 in 2023 in 2023.

Public prosecutors suspect that Barcelona Negreira, the former vice-president of the Spain’s Referee Committee (CTA) paid between 1994 and 2018, to influence the referee’s decisions, while the club claims that the payments were for referee reports and advice.

«Today it became clear that many of the theories that have been collected in recent years have been destroyed,» said Bartomeu, president between 2014 and 2020 reporters outside a court in Barcelona.

«It was clarified that there were advisory services, referee reports, guidelines with regard to pre and post-match matters (provided) and that there was a financial assessment for that advisory work.»

Rosell, his predecessor in office between 2010 and 2014 left without making a public statement.

During his court, in which he only answered questions from his lawyer, the former Barca chef said that payments were for sporting advisory services and never intended to pay off referees or manipulate the competition.

According to the Spanish media, both also stated that these payments were inherited from earlier administrations.

In addition to Rosell and Bartomeu, other persons investigated, such as the son of Enriquez Negreira, were also called to testify on Thursday.

The investigation began in March 2023 after the tax authorities of Spain had identified irregularities in tax payments between 2016 and 2018 by the Dasnil 95 – ownership company.

Published on September 18, 2025