Spanish Civil Guard investigating Barcelona’s “modus operandi” during Negreira case

It has been 11 months since news first broke of Barcelona’s alleged involvement with Enriquez Negreira during his time at Vice-President of the Referees Committee (CTA) in Spain. The Catalan remain under investigation by Spanish authorities over the matter, having been charged towards the end of 2023.

The Prosecutor’s Office in Spain are on the case, and are La Guardia Civil. In the case of the latter, El Mundo say that their focus at the moment is on Barcelona’s “modus operandi” during the period in which they paid Negreira.

Specifically, the Civil Guard want to understand how the protocol was internally articulated within the club in order for Negreira to be paid for almost 20 years, meaning that they want to know how the situation was portrayed by club bosses in-house during the period in question. This new measure is likely to lead to an increase in the number of people that are being investigated as part of the case.

With these new proceedings, Judge Joaquin Aguirre intends to specify who gave the payment orders, if there were instructions to hide them in the accounts, who explained that these operations were not reflected in the accounts, and who materially executed the payments of the invoices to Enriquez Negreira.

Barcelona have denied any wrongdoing throughout the matter, which will reach its year anniversary in a month’s time. The matter continues to go on in Spanish football, and it is certainly one that has created much angst among other clubs.