Barcelona deny wrongdoing after £1m referee payments allegations emerge on eve of Manchester United tie
Barcelona have strenuously denied any wrongdoing on the eve of their Europa League meeting with Manchester United after it emerged they paid a referees’ chief more than £1m.
Spanish media reported that the club’s payments to Jose Maria Enriquez Negreira were being investigated by local prosecutors over possible tax irregularities.
Barca said the fees paid to the then-referees’ committee vice president between 2016 and 2018 were for “technical reports related to professional refereeing” and were “a usual practice in professional football clubs”.
“Barcelona regrets that this information appears precisely at the best sporting moment of the season,” they added.
“Barcelona will take legal action against anyone who damages the image of the club with possible insinuations contrary to the reputation of the entity that may arise as a result of this information.”
Joan Laporta, who returned to the club as president in 2021, painted the allegations as an attempt to derail the Spanish league leaders’ season.
“It’s not a coincidence that this information has come out now, when things are going well,” Laporta said.
Spain’s refereeing body the Comite Tecnico de Arbitro (CTA) said Enriquez Negreira had left its federative structure in 2018.
“The CTA deplores behaviours that could violate its ethics code. No active referee or member of the CTA bodies may carry out any work that is likely to constitute a conflict of interests.”
Barcelona host United in the first leg of the Europa League playoff round on Thursday, with a place in the last 16 at stake. The second leg is at Old Trafford next week.