How an arbitration scandal shakes Barça and all of Spanish football

Four years after its last title in La Liga, FC Barcelona is ideally placed to win a 27th Spanish league title, with its 12 point lead over Real Madrid. The team of Jules Koundé and Ousmane Dembélé (still injured) is even aiming for the double, as they approach their Coupe du Roi semi-final in a strong position this Wednesday against their eternal rival, after the success of the go to the Bernabéu (0-1). While waiting to perhaps recover the idol Lionel Messi this summer, and if we forget a little about his eternal financial worries, everything could be fine in the land of the Culés, after several seasons of doubt.

Except that a huge black cloud threatens the Camp Nou. This phenomenon is not called cumulonimbus, but “Negreira affair”. The arbitration scandal that erupted in mid-February saw two important new developments on Monday: Barça demanded in a press release the resignation of Javier Tebas, the boss of the Spanish League, who allegedly handed over a letter to the prosecution wrongly implicating two former presidents. of the club. In addition, Aleksander Ceferin, the president of UEFA (re-elected on Wednesday), indicated to the Slovenian media Ekipa that this case is “one of the most serious situations” he has “ever seen in football”.

On March 23, the European body announced the opening of an investigation into a “possible violation of the legal framework” of UEFA by FC Barcelona, ​​​​which could compromise its participation in the Champions League next season.

Xavi dodges the subject

Inevitably, the subject was invited to the press conference given Tuesday by Xavi, on the eve of the 789th Clasico of the season. And unsurprisingly, the Catalan technician evaded the subject like a spreader dodges a cow in a Landes race. “Extra-sporting subjects do not enter the locker room. We talk about what we have to correct, how to position ourselves… We don’t talk about Negreira, Tebas, or UEFA… We just want to prove that we can beat again [le Real]. »

But what are we talking about, exactly? A little throwback for those who don’t follow the hectic football news beyond the Pyrenees. The scandal erupted on February 15, when the Cadena Ser revealed that the Spanish public prosecutor’s office was investigating the company Dasnil 95, owned by José Maria Enriquez Negreira, vice-president of the Technical Committee of Referees (CTA) of the Spanish Federation (RFEF ) from 1994 to 2018.

Javier Tebas, the president of the Spanish League. – Oscar J Barroso / Shutterstock / Sipa

There was then talk of a sum of 1.4 million euros paid to this company by Barça for “advice on arbitration matters”, between 2016 and 2018. Over the course of the investigation, the amount swelled to more than 7.3 million euros, and the period concerned increased from two to 24 years, between 1994 and 2018. … From then on, the soap opera was launched against a backdrop of protestations of innocence on the part of Joan Laporta, l current Blaugrana president: ‘Let it be clear that Barca have never bought a referee nor intended to buy referees. Absolutely never, ”he said on March 7.

Real for a long time discreet

Three days later, the Barcelona public prosecutor’s office announced that the club, as a legal person, as well as its former presidents Josep Maria Bartomeu and Sandro Rosell and the now famous José Maria Enriquez Negreira, were being prosecuted for “corruption between individuals in the sports sector “, “breach of trust” and “false business records”. .

Long discreet, Real finally asked to be part of the procedure as an “injured party”, while Javier Tebas, the president of the Spanish League, spoke of the “worst moment in Spanish football”. The same Tebas also finds himself in turmoil after having, according to the Barcelona daily La Vanguardiaincluded in a brief to the prosecutor’s office a document from a deceased former Barca manager.

See you in June

While waiting for the next revelations, fans of other La Liga clubs, the Merengues in the lead, have gone to track down arbitration decisions favorable to Barça since the end of the 20th century. As for the Catalan socios, they are feverishly awaiting a possible sanction from UEFA, which could fall in June according brand, a pro-Real sports daily which follows the case with relish. At the Spanish level, however, no worries for the Blaugrana: more than five years old, the facts are considered prescribed, according to the decidedly essential Javier Tebas.

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