The next piece of good news for FC Barcelona this week: the investigations against president Joan Laporta and various other former board members in the much-discussed “Caso Negreira” have been dropped
An eventful week lies behind Joan Laporta. His visit to the Women’s Champions League final, which Barcelona won 2-0 against Olympique Lyon, was followed during the week by the termination of his contract with coach Xavi and the presentation of his successor Hansi Flick. On Friday, however, the 61-year-old received what was probably the best personal news of the week: the investigations against him in the “Caso Negreira” were dropped.
Laporta had been incriminated in the affair surrounding the millions paid by FC Barcelona to referee official Jose Maria Enriquez Negreira years ago. The Spanish judiciary had targeted Laporta’s first term in office as boss of the Catalans from 2003 to 2010. On Friday, however, the regional court in Barcelona clarified that possible criminal offenses are now “time-barred.”
The accusation of bribery had already been dropped last week. Laporta and other members of the Barcelona board at the time have now been acquitted.
However, the Spanish judiciary is still investigating various members of the Barcelona board – including Sandro Rosell (president from 2010 to 2014) and Josep Maria Bartomeu (president from 2014 to 2020) – who were in charge of the Catalan club between 2010 and 2018 on suspicion of corruption.
The investigation was opened in March 2023. Around €7.3 million was paid by the club to Negreira, the former vice-chairman of the refereeing committee, between 2001 and 2018. While the Catalans continue to speak of “consultancy fees”, the investigators suspect that the money was used to favor Barcelona in refereeing decisions
