Overview
- Former president Joan Gaspart testified that he had no knowledge of the payments to José María Enríquez Negreira and insisted the club never paid referees or committed any illegality.
- Gaspart said Negreira’s company was contracted to provide referee analysis, describing such reports as routine in professional football.
- Ex-referee Ricardo Segura, now Barça’s refereeing adviser, told the court he earns €49,000 a year to deliver 60 reports for the first team and that coach Hansi Flick requests them, adding it was “impossible” to corrupt a referee.
- Javier Enríquez, Negreira’s son, said he joined Barça’s payroll in 2013 and produced about 200 reports a year at roughly €250 per report.
- Investigators have tallied payments at more than €7.3 million from 2001 to 2018, which stopped after Negreira left the CTA, and the case continues with ex-presidents Sandro Rosell and Josep Maria Bartomeu charged and a defense request for a new forensic evaluation of Negreira.