The trial for the charges of alleged fraud and sporting corruption against former Referees Committee (CTA) Vice-President Jose Maria Enriquez Negreira and Barcelona is underway, and Thursday saw a number of figures testify. Current Barcelona President Joan Laporta is also set to give evidence as a witness.
His successors Sandro Rosell and Josep Maria Bartomeu both gave evidence, denying the charges brought against them, and explaining away the payments of €7.5m over a period of 17 years to Enriquez Negreira. His son, Javier Enriquez Romero, who authored a number of those refereeing reports which Barcelona, Bartomeu and Rosell claim the payments were in exchange for, also gave evidence.
Enriquez Romero denies statements against father
It was reported shortly after his time in court that Enriquez Romero had testified against Barcelona and his father, claiming that the €7.5m ‘was not for the referee reports’. Marca go on to say that Romero explained that he had questioned his father on the payments, and assured that he told him that ‘the ethics of a referee are above all and you can’t have business with anyone’. ‘What the f*** does it matter to you?’ was supposedly his father’s response when questioned about it.
Yet Cadena Cope have said that Enriquez Romero has denied accusing his father or Barcelona of corruption while questioned in court.
Enriquez Romero’s role in Dasnil 95
In terms of his own role in his father’s consultancy (Dasnil 95), Romero assured that he earned €70k per year from his work between 2012 and 2018, and that he authored around 1,600 reports on referees, half in video format, half written, including the personal foibles of the officials. Another point of conversation was his accompanying of officials to Barcelona games at Camp Nou, but Romero explained that he did the same for other clubs including Espanyol, Castellon, Girona and Valencia, and did not earn from this duty, beyond the clubs covering the odd dinner.
https://x.com/barcacentre/status/1969032764461580773
Testimonies will continue in the coming weeks, with former Barcelona coaches Luis Enrique Martinez and Ernesto Valverde. Barcelona have denied all charges relating to the club, while a number of La Liga clubs are part of the case as claimants.
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