FC Barcelona president Joan Laporta accused of bribery in 'Caso Negreira': Report

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FC Barcelona president Joan Laporta has been charged with bribery in the 'Caso Negreira' case, which involved bribing Refrees Committee senior official Jose Maria Enriquez Negreira, and is set to stand trial along with former presidents Sandro Rosell and Josep Bartomeu.

Earlier, Joan Laporta wasn't involved in the referee bribery case, which rocked Spanish top-tier football, as the statute of limitations of Spanish law in bribery cases was kept at 10 years since the case opened earlier this year.

However, the Court Magistrate, hearing the case, said the statute of limitation is applicable since the last date of payment to Negreira (in 2018) since this was a case of continuous bribing.

This means the period now extends till 2008, taking into account the last three years (2008-2010) of Laporta's first tenure as the president of the club. Laporta's first tenure as FC Barcelona president ran from 2003 to 2010. Laporta is now summoned with his board of directors (in 2008-2010).

What is Casa Negreira?

The Negreira case opened in February this year when Barcelona were accused of making payments of more than $7 million to Negreira between 2001 and 2018. Negreira was holding the post of vice president of the refereeing committee during the period. Negreira has also been a top-tier referee in the past.

Joan Laporta has repeatedly denied the allegations of bribing the referee or influencing the result of the match and added that the payments were for "technical reports about referees". However, the prosecutors have accused Barcelona presidents of having an agreement with Negreira to "carry out actions aimed at favouring Barca in the decision-making of the referees in the matches played by the club and thus in the results of the competitions".

During the 2008-18 period, following Laporta's tenure, Sandro Rosell took charge of the club from 2010 to 2014 while Bartomeu, who served as Rosell's deputy, took over from 2014 untill he resigned in 2020.