An exceptional resolution. The judge of Barcelona investigative court number 1, Joaquín Aguirre, has charged Futbol Club Barcelona and former presidents Sandro Rosell and Josep Maria Bartomeu with a crime of bribery for the 7.5 million euros that the club paid between 2011 and 2018 to the former vice-president of the Referees Technical Committee (CTA), José María Enríquez Negreira, who is also charged, for making reports on referees, according to a resolution reported by various media and confirmed by ElNacional.cat. In the decision, communicated this Thursday to the parties, judge Aguirre maintains that Negreira has the category of civil servant, a necessary component for a crime of bribery, with the argument that he performed a public function as a selector of referees. In addition, the judge ordered the Civil Guard to search the CTA premises in Madrid on Thursday to look for invoices.
Over the summer, the judge in the Negreira case created a separate section of the inquiry over the alleged crime of money laundering of some 297,085 euros, paid by the club between the years 2016 and 2018. Initially, Barça and its managers were being investigated for crimes of corruption in business affairs between individuals, disloyal administration and forgery in commercial documents. Now, bribery is attributed to them.
The accused
Specifically, in the resolution, the judge accuses the referee, Enríquez Negreira, of a continuing crime of passive bribery, as a perpetrator, while accusing his son, Javier Enríquez, of a continuing crime of passive bribery, as a necessary cooperant.
Sports corruption
As for the two former presidents and two former directors of Barça (Òscar Grau and Albert Soler), the judge alleges that they committed a continuing crime of active bribery. However, he adds that, once the investigation is over, the alternative classification of the crime of sports corruption could be maintained (Art. 286 bis 4 Penal Code), as the prosecution service argues.
The RFEF, public
To argue that a bribery charge should be laid, judge Aguirre even quotes a judgment from the European Court of Justice on a demand from the Italian football federation, and concludes that in the Negreira case "all the requirements of European Directive 2014/24 are met, and the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) must be considered, without a doubt, as a public body". And it concludes that the RFEF has the status of a legal-public entity for criminal purposes and its managers, including those who are part of technical committees, must be considered as public officials for criminal purposes. In other words, the judge equates Negreira with a civil servant or public authority, a necessary requirement in order to meet the definition of bribery.
Jury trial
The crime of bribery can be punished by sentences from two to four years in prison, while corruption between individuals has a minimum sentence of six months in prison and a maximum of four years. And if the defendants are finally prosecuted for bribery, that crime is tried by a jury.
From the facts that have been investigated so far, the judge affirms that FC Barcelona made payments, through intermediary companies, to one of the three vice-presidents of the Technical Referees Committee integrated into the RFEF. "Fact that have not been denied and which are documented," he says.
The resolution also includes jurisprudence on bribery, which the judge applies to the Negreira case. Judge Aguirre maintains that Negreira "had the status of a public official for criminal purposes, given that he performed public functions as vice president of the CTA, such as the rating of referees and deciding on promotions and demotions for these professionals".
Negreira's threats
The judge reports that the payments made by the Barça club were maintained for 18 years and increased from 70,000 to 700,000 euros per year. He also says that Negreira sent a threatening letter to the management of Barça when they told him that he would not be paid anymore, in mid-2018, and coincidentally his appointment as vice-president of the CTA was then ended.
And from this fact the judge deduces that Negreira "was aware that illegal acts had taken place in favour of FC Barcelona, of considerable seriousness". And he adds: "This direct knowledge on the part of Negreira implied either his participation in the commission of these acts in favour of FC Barcelona, or very close knowledge of the people who would have committed them."
Because of all this, judge Aguirre concludes that "the crime of bribery was consummated when the payment was made, whether or not the systemic corruption of Spanish refereeing is proven due to these payments".