🚨💣 THE NEGREIRA CASE — FULL RECAP: • Between 2001 and 2018, FC Barcelona paid approximately €7.3 million to José María Enríquez Negreira. • Negriera was the Vice-President of Spain’s Technical Committee of Referees (CTA) — effectively one of the most senior figures inside the Spanish refereeing structure. • He held that position from 1994 until 2018. • Barcelona's payments therefore continued for approximately 17 years while Negreira occupied a senior position within the refereeing establishment. • Payments were made under different Barcelona presidencies: — Joan Gaspart — Joan Laporta — Sandro Rosell — Josep Maria Bartomeu • The payments suddenly stopped in 2018 — the same year Negreira left the Spain’s Technical Committee of Referees. • Barcelona's official explanation is that it paid for "technical reports and scouting information about referees" that they handed over to coaches and coaching staffs to prepare for matches • However, when investigators called up former Barca coaches such as Luis Enrique and Ernesto Valverde and asked them about these reports, they said they had NEVER seen them or used them. • Barcelona therefore spent millions of euros on "reports" that they never used. • When investigators asked Negreira himself what the millions were for, he said "They paid me to ensure refereeing neutrality." • When investigators then asked Joan Laporta about Negreira saying "he was paid to ensure refereeing neutrality", Laporta said "We never asked him to do that." • Investigators examined invoices issued to Barça by to Negreira. • One invoice dated 30 November 2005 was for €60,000 and described the expenditure as "aloe vera gift pack" • When prosecutor asked Joan Laporta whether invoices such as this were connected to the alleged referee reports/services, his reply was "I don't know." • Another invoice, for around €139,000, referred to having selected/digitized footage from the South Africa 2010 World Cup. • The problem? The 2010 World Cup wasn't even played yet. • This pattern repeated for multiple internatonal tournaments, where invoices were made before these tournaments were ever played. • La Liga say the reason they are not sanctioning Barcelona for this scandal, is because the statute of limitations is of 3 years only, and the case was revealed in 2023, which means the statute of limitations has passed. • The case is now in criminal court. • UEFA have now launched their own investigation, and they could BAN Barcelona from their competitions if they find them guilty.