Former Barcelona President Josep Maria Bartomeu gave evidence during the infamous Negreira Case on Thursday, as he faces accusations of fraud and sporting corruption. That is also the case for Barcelona, and both have denied all charges, with the case centering around €7.6m in payments made to former Vice-President of the Referees Committee Jose Maria Enriquez Negreira over a period of 17 years.
Bartomeu and Rosell both testified that that total was for reports on referees over that period, with the former claiming that ‘many of the theories put forward in recent months were rendered obsolete’ after his appearance in court. Meanwhile conflicting reports emerged about the testimony of Negreira’s son, Javier Enriquez Romero, who did confirm that he authored around 1,600 reports on referees himself over a five-year period.
Bartomeu explains meeting with Negreira
Previously Bartomeu had told the police that he had met with Negreira on six or seven occasions. However as per Marca, Bartomeu altered his story, saying that only one of those encounters was a formal meeting with the others occurring in an informal manner at dinners or Federation meetings. That meeting he did have occurred in Negreira’s office, and Bartomeu had the following to say on it.
“Enríquez Negreira asked me directly, and since I’m a polite person, I went. I met him in his office, and he offered me his services. I didn’t think it was strange; at the club, they told me it was something normal and something that was being done.”
Burofax dismissed by Bartomeu
Another of the suspicious pieces of evidence that has found its way into the public domain was a burofax sent by Negreira in 2018 shortly before Barcelona ended their contractual relations. In it, Negreira threatened ‘to speak’ if they did not adhere to the verbal pact.
“We had decided to cut ties with his son due to a budget issue, and I understand the anger over this family situation. I discussed it with the legal department, and they didn’t give it much thought,” responded Bartomeu.
