17/12/2025
Interesting times ahead
After the latest Negreira hearing, this is what we have found out based on what Laporta and ex Barcelona managers testified.
1) Barcelona have paid a total sum of 8.4 million Euros from 2001 to 2018 to José María Enríquez Negreira, a former vice president of the Technical Committee of Referees of the Royal Spanish Football Federation. This is a fact, and not upto debate. The case is ongoing to determine for what purposes Barcelona paid Negreira for.
2) In May 2024, a Spanish court dismissed the official's bribery charges, ruling that Negreira was not considered a public official under Spanish law. However, the investigation continued under the charge of sports corruption. In late August 2024, prosecutors also accused Negreira’s associate, Ana Paula Rufas, of money laundering, following the discovery of €3 million transferred to accounts in her name between 1992 and 2023.
3) Currently, Laporta has testified that the payments were for special reports by the committee. However, two Barcelona managers, Ernesto Valverde and Luis Enrique have officially testified that neither them or their staff ever had access to these ‘reports’. Further, there are dubious transactions such as 60,000 euros for ‘aloe vera gift packs’ and 139,000 euros for reports from the world cup, which funnily occurs BEFORE the 2010 world cup. According to Laporta, he cannot recall any of these payments.
4) Laporta has testified that he has never met Negreira in the past, however video evidence shows them sharing pleasantries with each other in 2009.
5) When asked to present the ‘reports’ Laporta has mentioned that they have been destroyed.
These are the FACTS, not rumours. All of these are based on the court hearings.
If proven guilty, Barcelona can be relegated to the second division, with many officials being punished by the court of law.
Perez initially wanted to sweep this under the rug because of the damage to Spanish football as well as because Laporta has be