[Saba Sports News] Recently, Spanish media published an in-depth report revealing the latest investigation findings by the tax authorities regarding the funds paid by FC Barcelona to José María Negreira. An official report released by the Catalan Inspection Branch of the Spanish Tax Agency clearly states that the money Barcelona paid to former vice president of the Referees Technical Committee Negreira was not intended to bribe match officials or influence match outcomes. This official conclusion is fully in line with the consistent stance defended by FC Barcelona, insisting that such payments were solely for obtaining professional referee analysis reports, with no intention whatsoever to undermine match fairness. The report elaborates that although Barcelona did pay over 7.5 million euros to Negreira between 2001 and 2018, there is no evidence proving that the huge sums were used to purchase internal confidential information from the refereeing committee, manipulate referee appointments, or directly rig match results.
The editor believes that the report highlights a key detail. After a rigorous review of all capital outflows from relevant bank accounts, none of the funds were found to have been transferred to active referees. The tax authorities also specifically pointed out that throughout the period when Barcelona made these payments, Negreira himself never served as the lead referee for any official match.