Epic off-field scandal - El Caso Negreira - threatens to engulf the Catalan club
The weeks since have seen a cascade of further sensational details. In their initial investigation, the Spanish tax authorities noted that Negreira had received expenses from the Spanish football federation for his role with the refereeing committee, and also established that he did most of his day-to-day spending using a personal Visa card. However, they were intrigued to find that Negreira was also in the habit of making frequent cash withdrawals from his company’s business account.
Negreira declined the opportunity to appear before the prosecutor’s office to explain his side of the story, citing Alzheimer’s. Nevertheless, on March 10th, the public prosecutor formally charged Barcelona with “corruption in sports, unfair administration and falsehood in commercial documents.
“What FC Barcelona wanted was to make sure that no decisions were made against the club, that everything was neutral” However, Laporta has thus far failed to produce a convincing explanation for why his club paid a senior refereeing figure more than €7 million over 17 years. A couple of the “reports” that were allegedly produced as part of the deal have appeared in media reports: they are totally anodyne documents. It is unclear why Barca deemed it necessary to keep Negreira on what amounted to a retainer of €430,000 a year to give them reports that could have been compiled by any semi-competent intern.
Ireland Latest News, Ireland Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Inside Coronation Street Daisy star's real life with co-star boyfriendCoronation Street's Daisy Midgeley is no stranger to drama. However, the actress that plays her, Charlotte Jordan, enjoys a far less dramatic life off screen.
Read more »
Why Credit Suisse 'might not survive the weekend' | NewstalkThe Swiss Central Bank stepped in to provide funding of €51bn - but Chris Johns believes this mightn't be enough
Read more »
Lewis Hamilton will need to leave Mercedes if we do not improve – Toto WolffHamilton’s £40million-a-year contract with the Silver Arrows expires at the end of the season.
Read more »
Liam Neeson's late wife Natasha would not have married him if he took Bond roleActor Liam Neeson has revealed that his late-wife Natasha Richardson once said she would not marry him if he took on the role of iconic super-spy James Bond
Read more »
Johnny Sexton: ‘This is not the end, there’s plenty more left in this team’Johnny Sexton: ‘This is not the end, there’s plenty more left in this team’ via IrishTimesSport
Read more »
Josh van der Flier plays the match and not the occasion to help deliver Grand Slam‘I’ve been trying just to prepare the way I would for a normal game, not think about the consequences’
Read more »