The inexplicable stain that constitutes the two decades of payments and business between FC Barcelona and the former referee and former vice president of the Technical Committee, José María Enríquez Negreira, begins to expand. The reputation of the Blaugrana club is in question due to the latent conflict of interest and because the total amount disbursed, 7 million between 2001 and 2018, is exorbitant for reporting – first verbally, then in writing and on DVD. The suspicion begins to be verbalized within Spanish football. Sevilla and Espanyol were the first two teams in the League to request that the plot be fully investigated. While Javier Tebas, president of LaLiga, raised the tone of his pressure and went even further. "If Laporta does not explain the Negreira case well, I think he should resign," said the boss's leader.
Five days after the case became known, Sevilla made a statement. The Andalusian club considers that "the seriousness of the known facts" puts "in question or sowing doubts about the integrity of Spanish football competitions." The club chaired by José Castro declares itself outraged. "It is absolutely necessary to get to the bottom of the matter to clarify what happened, and, where appropriate, purify the appropriate responsibilities," the president claims in his statement.
The step taken by the Nervión club led to another entity also joining their request. The next to join was RCD Espanyol, which also urged more clubs in the competition to join this agreement to come out in "defense of the proper functioning and good name" of national football.
Espanyol is "alarmed" by the possible implications of the discovered relationship between Barça, its neighbor, and a personality from the arbitration establishment. The blue and whites demand "an exceptional performance when it comes to clarifying what has really happened." The parakeet club believes that the importance of the case requires getting down to work as soon as possible. "We urge the competent bodies and institutions to deal with the matter with the appropriate speed and exemplary nature," he demands.
Espanyol also calls for "purifying corresponding responsibilities at the national and/or international level."
This attempt to internationalize the controversy and its consequences is not trivial. Because according to Spanish sports legislation, disciplinary sanctions cannot be carried out once three years have elapsed in the case of a very serious infraction, since this has prescribed, as detailed in the RFEF Disciplinary Code. As a result of the Tax Agency investigating the invoices for the 2016-2018 period, it was learned that the link between Barcelona and the Dasnil 95 company was broken in 2018, four and a half years ago.
Instead, FIFA lengthens the sanction period to 10 years in the case of match manipulation. For its part, UEFA claims the power to veto participation in its continental competitions, the Champions League, the Europa League and the Conference League, provided that it has been proven that "an activity intended to influence the outcome of a match" has been committed. party at the national or international level.
Real Madrid has not pronounced itself as an institution but its coach, Carlo Ancelotti, did make a plea in favor of cleanliness and neutrality in sport. “That people doubt the competition? That would not be good. Sport must always be clean”, explained the Italian.
LaLiga, which on Friday said that it would be presented as a private prosecution but was on hold, has changed its discourse due to the concern of the first clubs. "If the Prosecutor's Office does not present a complaint for corruption, LaLiga will present it," announced Javier Tebas.
This noon, the president Joan Laporta has an act at the Camp Nou with the Minister of the Interior, Joan Ignasi Elena, but in principle his intention is not to touch on the controversial subject, despite the fact that his first stage in the box is included within the years in which Barcelona paid amounts to the company of Enríquez Negreira and his son. Yes, the club's first vice president, Rafael Yuste, spoke minutes before Barça-Cádiz last Sunday. "The partner must be calm, we will offer all the maximum transparency," he promised. Far from diminishing in size, the snowball continues to grow.
