Head of Referees Committee sends warning to referees involved in Negreira case - 'Let them pay'

Head of the Referees Technical Committee (CTA) Luis Medina Cantalejo has told the media that he is keen to see the infamous Negreira case resolved as quickly as possible, noting that nobody is more interested in resolving the matter than the CTA.

Barcelona are currently under investigation for sporting corruption, and have been charged with bribery for payments of €7-8m made to former CTA Vice-President Jose Maria Enriquez Negreira over a period of 17 years. They are yet to be found guilty of anything, but investigating magistrate Joaquin Aguirre is directing the investigation under the assumption that there was a ‘group of corrupt referees’.

Medina Cantalejo was adamant that he had no knowledge of any such group, as covered by Diario AS.

“Since this case came to light, the surprise was tremendous. We provided all the information and more from the Prosecutor’s Office. We have to respect Judge Aguirre’s order. But I don’t share it. He talks about evidence…”

“What we want is for it to be resolved as soon as possible. Whoever did it should pay for it. Be it from the Negreira family or Barcelona. If anyone else, and the judge, have names and surnames, let them pay for it to the maximum extent. We are the ones who are most interested in that. Our professional referees are protected, but those at another level are just waiting to be called Negreira. We are hoping that the guilty parties will pay. It has done a lot of damage to refereeing.”

The investigation is currently ongoing into the matter, while Barcelona insist they are innocent of all wrongdoing. There is also an investigation ongoing into extorsion, with Barcelona the club as a potential victim.