Barcelona cleared of bribery charges in the Negreira case

In a huge development, The Barcelona High Court has overturned the decision of the judge in the ‘Negreira case’ to charge FC Barcelona and the directors under investigation for the payments to the former vice-president of the Technical Committee of Referees (CTA) with bribery.

A report from Mundo Deportivo confirms that in an order, the 21st section of the Barcelona Court of Appeal agrees with the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office and the defence and annuls the charge of bribery in the ‘Negreira case’, as demanded by FC Barcelona.

It should be recalled that the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office opposed investigating FC Barcelona for bribery for the payments to José María Enríquez Negreira, concluding that the latter did not have the status of public official required for this type of offence.

Ever since the case emerged, Barça have maintained that the payments the club had made to Negreira were in exchange for technical reports on match officials and scout reports on players.

Club president Joan Laporta even came out and presented proof in the form of documentation of the reports that the Catalans had received from Negreira.

It was seven months ago that judge Joaquín Aguirre issued an order in which he maintained that Barcelona’s payments to Negreira, would constitute “bribery”.

However, the Blaugrana had immediately appealed against the accusation and now they have been cleared of the bribery charges.