Just a couple of months ago Barcelona and La Liga went into a frenzy as reports came out about a potential scandal that could have seen Barcelona relegated to Spanish Second Division. The time these reports have come out could take a heavy toll on the rebuilding phase of Barcelona which is currently being undertaken under Xavi.
"The controversy came to be known as Barcelona's Referee Scandal"
What is Barcelona's Referee Scandal?
In short, Barcelona was found to have made payments to a company whose vice president held major powers over electing referees for a game. The centre of this reports the main people who are engaged are Laporte, Sandro Rosel, Bartemeu and Jose Enriquez Negreira
The main events unfolded when in February Spanish prosecutors found Barcelona made payments to a company that numbered in millions. Initially, it was thought of as an instance of corruption but as prosecutors went on with their findings, they found Barcelona had made payments to a company called Dasnil 95 whose vice-president was Jose Enriquez Negreira
Jose Enriquez Negreira is alleged to have received the payments from Barcelona. It is alleged Barcelona has made payments to the referee committee to gain favourable decisions in the clutch moments.
However there seemed to be another company Barcelona was paying money to This company was later revealed to be NISCAT, and again at the helm of vice-presidency was Caso Negrera.
It is alleged that over time from 2001-2018 Barcelona has made payments of up to 7.8 Million Euros to these companies.
Bartemeu Also Charged in Barcelona's Referee Scandal
Josep Bartemeu who served as the President of Football Club Barcelona has been charged seriously by the prosecutors in charge of corruption. It was under Bartemeu's main allegations as many corruption charges have also come out.
Barcelona claims these payments were made for the reports on youth players and general disciplinary accounts, and taking reports is fairly common practice in Spanish Football. The main accusation comes regarding the payments made to a particular person who was responsible for selecting referees for the match.
La Liga has been very hot in its heels for the depth of this scandal and has been asking for an explanation from Barcelona even going on to ask Joan Laprta to resign if he couldn’t explain the payments.
What Punishments can be given after this scandal?
Barcelona will be barred from Juventus-style prosecution as La Liga will not be giving any sporting punishments to Barcelona as the main payments were made more than three years ago. But UEFA can still cause great distress for Barcelona if they are not able to explain the payments.
Barcelona had pleaded its innocence, However, also accepting the payments made by these clubs. But it is said these are made to gain essential reports about the behavioural conduits of their players.
Against all these allegations Barcelona has seemed to have taken an aggressive stand as the President calls it to be a “smear campaign” against Barcelona. Laporte has also attacked very fiercely against La Liga and Madrid. Laporta also claimed if Barca is found innocent then it would astronomical amount of compensation for the damage it has done to Barcelona.
Interestingly it is also to be noted that Barcelona is one of the founding members of the Super League and one of the teams to sign the CVC deals with La Liga.
In the middle of these allegations, Barcelona is also going through financial turmoil as a team is out of Europa League and Copa Del Rey.
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