Will Barcelona face sporting sanctions over payments to referees’ chief? No, says Tebas

LaLiga president Javier Tebas says Barcelona can’t face sporting sanctions over payments made to a former high-level administrator of refereeing in Spain.

AS and Spanish radio station Cadena SER revealed on Wednesday that Barça paid José María Enríquez Negreira, then the vice-president of Spain’s Technical Committee of Referees (CTA), nearly €1.4m from 2016 to 2018.

The CTA manages Spain’s body of match officials, with its responsibilities including the appointment of referees to games in LaLiga.

Enríquez provided Barcelona with “technical guidance”

Enríquez has told an investigation by Spain’s tax agency, the Agencia Tributaria, that Barça paid him for “technical guidance” aimed at ensuring that “refereeing decisions weren’t going to go against them, that is to say, that there would be complete neutrality”.

In a statement, Barça have acknowledged that the club paid for “technical reports relating to professional refereeing”, but described this as “a common practice among professional football clubs”.

Between 2016 and 2018, Barça were run by former president Josep Maria Bartomeu, who resigned in October 2020, together with his entire board of directors.

Window to punish Barcelona closed two years ago - LaLiga chief

Speaking on Thursday, Tebas noted that Spain’s Ley del Deporte (’Sports Law’) prevents Spanish footballing authorities from taking any action against the 26-time domestic champions.

“It’s clear that these services should never have been provided […],” the LaLiga chief said.

“It won’t be possible for Barcelona to receive disciplinary sanctions. Five years have gone by and [the period in which to hand out] these types of sanctions expires after three years.

“On a sporting level it isn’t possible, but it may be on a criminal level. The prosecutor’s office is looking into the facts to see whether a match-fixing crime has been committed by individuals. We’ll see how the investigation turns out.”

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Tebas to probe Enríquez influence over ref appointments

Tebas added that he will seek explanations from refereeing administrators over the controversy. “We’re going to find out from the CTA and the LaLiga representative on its referee-designation committee whether [Enríquez] Negreira had any influence on any appointment.”

He concluded: “On both an aesthetic and ethical level, these things can’t happen in Spanish football.”