Barcelona release statement after report claims club paid referees' chief
15.02.2023 - 19:01
/ manchestereveningnews.co.uk
Barcelona have released a statement after a report claimed that the club had paid a company owned by then-referee José María Enríquez Negreira €1.4m from 2016-2018.
According to a report from Spanish outlet Cadena SER, released on Wednesday, the Catalan giants previously made payments of €1.4m from 2016 to 2018 to DASNIL 95 SL - a company owned by the La Liga referee and vice president of Spain's Technical Committee of Referees, Enríquez Negreira. It adds that none of the payments were invoiced.
The general investigation proceedings are still open after an extension was agreed in October to continue investigating. However, Enríquez Negreira reportedly told Cadena SER that he never favoured Barcelona with any decision or arbitration appointment. Instead, he claimed that he advised the Catalan club about how their players should behave before referees.
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"That everything was neutral," he acknowledged before the Tax Agency, as per the report.
Shortly after the report was released, Barcelona issued a press release. The statement does not deny report and insists such payments, described as "advisory", are normal. The Spanish club claim that the report has been produced to destabilise their season, while also threatening legal action against those suggesting anything untoward with the payment.
The statement, translated to English, read: "Faced with the information broadcast today on the program Quê t'hi jugues de Ser Catalunya, FC Barcelona, aware of the facts being investigated by the Prosecutor's Office regarding payments made to external companies, wants to make it clear:
It comes a day before Barcelona host Manchester United in the first leg of a Europa