the investigation into suspicions of corruption of referees by FC Barcelona entrusted to an investigating judge

The turmoil continues for FC Barcelona. The ongoing investigation, concerning the Spanish club’s suspicious payments of money to companies owned by a former executive of the arbitration body, has been entrusted to an investigating judge, a Barcelona court announced on Wednesday March 15. This is a new step in the judicialization of this scandal which is shaking Spanish football.

>>> Football: what you need to know about the “Negreira affair” which is shaking Barça <<<

Last Friday, the Barcelona prosecutor’s office charged Barça, but also former club presidents Josep Maria Bartomeu (2014-2020) and Sandro Rosell (2010-2014) and former number 2 in Spanish arbitration Jose Maria Enriquez Negreira for “corruption between individuals in the sports sector”, “breach of trust” and “false business records”. The case was, since then, in the hands of the Barcelona court, which therefore decided to accept the file and entrust the investigation to the investigating judge Silvia Lopez Mejias.

The judge decided to join the complaints filed by the public prosecutor and the arbitrator Xavier Estrada Fernandez, who had also initiated proceedings against Mr. Negreira, and also authorized La Liga to participate in the investigation as as “aggrieved party”, (which is the equivalent of the constitution en partie civile in French law). Silvia Lopez Mejias instructed the Spanish Civil Guard to lead the investigation. Once she has the conclusions, she will set the dates for hearing the defendants.