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☆ Joan Laporta: FC Barcelona president under investigation for bribery and other crimes, according to court document
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-18 | by ( Matias Grez | Patrick Sung | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

CNN —FC Barcelona President Joan Laporta is officially being investigated as a “suspect” in the ongoing alleged improper payment scandal, according to court documents obtained by CNN – the latest twist in a scandal overshadowing the club and Spanish soccer. The investigation relates to alleged improper payments made by Barça to José María Enríquez Negreira, a former leading refereeing official in Spain. CNN has reached out to FC Barcelona for comment from Laporta but has yet to hear back. Laporta began his second term as club president in 2021. “As such, the statute of limitations of the crimes referred to previously has not expired in respect to [Laporta], as well as those people who were members of the Board of Directors of FC Barcelona respectively during his leadership,” Wednesday’s court document read.

Persons: Joan Laporta, ”, Barça, Judge Joaquín Aguirre López, Enríquez Negreira, Javier, Aguirre López, “, –, Judge Aguirre López, Negreira, invoiced, Blaugrana, Xavi, Caso, Juan Manuel Serrano Arce, Laporta’s, Laporta, Pau Mosquera Organizations: CNN — FC Barcelona, CNN, Spanish, 1st, FC Barcelona, Mundo Deportivo, Caso, Prosecutors, CTA, Osasuna, Barcelona, Estadio El Locations: Spain, Barcelona, Spanish, Estadio El Sadar

☆ Ramos gifts Barca win over Sevilla amid boardroom tensions between clubs
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-29 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

BARCELONA, Sept 29 (Reuters) - Barcelona moved provisionally top of LaLiga with a 1-0 home win over Sevilla on Friday after veteran defender Sergio Ramos accidentally bundled the ball into his own net in the second half. But a loud cheer rang out at the Montjuic Olympic Stadium, Barca's temporary home ground, after the 37-year-old's own goal. "When the opponent accumulates so many people in the box it's very difficult to defend for so long without making a mistake. Sergio (Ramos) was there to clear the ball, it was a whimsical goal," said Sevilla coach Jose Luis Mendilibar. The result moved Barca one point clear of Girona, who are second with a game in hand, while Sevilla are 12th.

Persons: Sergio Ramos, Ramos, Sergio, Jose Luis Mendilibar, Jose Maria Enriquez Negreira, Sevilla, Joao Felix, Gavi, Lucas Ocampos, Robert Lewandowski, Juanlu Sanchez, Barca, It's, Sergio's, Xavi Hernandez, Rohith Nair, Pritha Sarkar Organizations: Sevilla, Real Madrid, Barcelona, Barca, Thomson Locations: BARCELONA, Barcelona, Girona, Sevilla, Bengaluru

☆ Barcelona under investigation for suspected bribery in refereeing case
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-28 | by ( Fernando Kallas | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Police also searched the offices of the football federation RFEF in Madrid on Thursday, the Barcelona court said, as part of the ongoing inquiry into "possible systemic corruption" within the Spanish refereeing committee. Spanish football and the RFEF in particular are going through a moment of reckoning amid allegations of sexual abuse against former RFEF chief Luis Rubiales. The refereeing investigation has now been widened to include Barcelona as a suspect. Barcelona has denied any wrongdoing, saying in a statement in February it had paid an external consultant who supplied it with "technical reports related to professional refereeing", which it said was a common practice among professional football clubs. According to judge Aguirre, Negreira was responsible for ranking and evaluating the referees.

Persons: Albert Gea, Luis Rubiales, Rubiales, Jenni Hermoso, Joaquin Aguirre Lopez, Jose Maria Enriquez Negreira, Aguirre, Negreira, Fernando Kallas, Andrei Khalip Organizations: Football, FC Barcelona, Rights, Barcelona, Reuters, Thursday, Police, RFEF, Real Madrid, Thomson Locations: Barcelona, Spain, Rights MADRID, Spanish, Madrid, Sydney, RFEF

CNN —FC Barcelona and several of the soccer club’s current and former executives are officially being investigated as suspects for “the sustained crime of active bribery,” according to a court document obtained by CNN – the latest twist in an alleged improper payment scandal overshadowing Spanish soccer. The investigation relates to alleged improper payments made by Barcelona to José María Enríquez Negreira, a former leading refereeing official in Spain. The spokesperson declined to share more details about the search but said that no arrests are expected to be made. He added that in his opinion the payments “produced the desired effects on referees,” resulting in “consequent systemic corruption in … Spanish refereeing” affecting soccer in the country. CNN has reached out to Negreira via his company for comment but did not immediately receive a response.

Persons: “, –, Javier Soriano, invoiced, Negreira, ” Judge Joaquín Aguirre López, Aguirre López, ”, Barça, Caso, Xavi, Juan Manuel Serrano Arce, Javier Tebas, Los Blancos, CNN’s Matt Foster Organizations: CNN — FC Barcelona, CNN, Spain’s Civil Guard, Royal Spanish Football Federation, Guardia Civil, An FC Barcelona, Caso, Spanish, AFP, Getty, Prosecutors, CTA, 1st, La Liga, Barcelona, Osasuna, Civil Guard, Real, Real Madrid, UEFA Locations: Barcelona, Spain, Guardia, Spanish, Real Madrid

☆ Barcelona bank on Gundogan, Lewandowski experience
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-07 | by ( Fernando Kallas | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BARCELONA, Aug 7 (Reuters) - Barcelona claimed their 27th LaLiga title and first for four years last season led by coach Xavi Hernandez, relying on a mixture of young talent and seasoned veterans like striker Robert Lewandowski who was the league's top scorer. They recruited experienced midfielder Ikay Gundogan, who captained Manchester City to the Premier League, FA Cup and Champions League treble last season, ending a successful seven-year stint in England during which he won 12 major trophies. Gundogan will help mentor a young Barca squad as they try to retain the LaLiga crown and get back to winning ways in the Champions League after years of European disappointments. A Barcelona court has agreed to take on the case and UEFA has provisionally cleared the club to compete in this season's Champions League despite ongoing investigations. Reporting by Fernando Kallas, editing by Ed OsmondOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Xavi Hernandez, Robert Lewandowski, Ikay Gundogan, Gundogan, Lionel Messi, Jose Maria Enriquez Negreira, Marc, Andre ter Stegen, Gavi, Ronald Araujo, Luuk De Jong, Jules Kounde, Ousmane Dembele, Fernando Kallas, Ed Osmond Organizations: Manchester City, Premier League, FA, League, Champions League, Europa League, Manchester United, Barcelona, UEFA, Nou, Paris St Germain, Getafe, Thomson Locations: BARCELONA, Barcelona, England, Spanish

☆ FC Barcelona: How Xavi's defensive revolution brought La Liga title back to Catalunya
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-15 | by ( Matias Grez | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +11 min

Such has been the Blaugrana’s dominance this season, Xavi’s side clinched the trophy with four games still remaining and his iteration will undoubtedly go down as one of the greatest defensive teams in La Liga history. With only 13 goals conceded so far this season, Xavi’s Barcelona is set to obliterate that record. “Not only for me, but for the club and for all Barcelona fans it’s very important to win La Liga,” Barça striker Robert Lewandowski told CNN Sport ahead of the match against Espanyol. I think the first round [of fixtures] was very important, we proved that we can think about winning La Liga. Barcelona fans celebrate Sunday's La Liga success -- the club's first league title since the 2018-19 season.

☆ LaLiga in the bag, but Barcelona still face huge problems
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-14 | by ( Fernando Kallas | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

BARCELONA, May 14 (Reuters) - Barcelona may have won the LaLiga title on Sunday, but their outstanding domestic campaign has been somewhat overshadowed by turmoil off the pitch including deepening financial problems and a refereeing scandal that could drag on for years. Spanish prosecutors in March filed a complaint over alleged payments Barcelona made from 2001 to 2018 totalling 7.3 million euros ($8 million) to firms owned by former refereeing official Jose Maria Enriquez Negreira. A Barcelona court has agreed to take on the case. Also in March, European soccer's governing body UEFA opened its own formal investigation into the club, looking into the same payments. FINANCIAL HEADACHESAnd it comes at a time when Barcelona are already facing huge accounting problems related to their massive wage bill, to the COVID-19 pandemic and to the club's 1.6 billion-euro renovation project.

☆ Barcelona refereeing scandal one of most serious in football, says Ceferin
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-03 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/2] UEFA President Aleksander Ceferin attends a news conference during the 46th UEFA congress in Vienna, Austria, May 11, 2022. REUTERS/Leonhard FoegerApril 3 (Reuters) - UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin said that Barcelona's refereeing scandal is one of the most serious incidents he has seen in football ever since he became involved with it. "I cannot comment directly on this for two reasons," Ceferin told Slovenian newspaper Ekipe SN in an interview published on Monday. So serious that it is, in my opinion, one of the most serious (ones) in football since I have been involved in it." In a statement in February the club denied any wrongdoing, saying it had paid an external consultant who supplied it with technical reports related to professional refereeing, which it claimed was a common practice among professional football clubs.

☆ Too late to sanction Barca over ex-refereeing official payments: LaLiga president
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-17 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Feb 17 (Reuters) - LaLiga President Javier Tebas said it would be too late for the league to sanction Barcelona over payments made to a company owned by a high-ranking official of Spain's refereeing body, though it may be possible on a "criminal level". Spanish prosecutors said they are investigating around 1.4 million euros ($1.49 million) in payments made by Barcelona. The club have said they "hired the services of an external consultant" that supplied them with "technical reports related to professional refereeing". "It won't be possible for Barcelona to receive disciplinary sanctions," he said. "Five years have gone by and (the period to hand out) these types of sanctions expires after three years.

☆ Spanish prosecutors probe Barcelona's payments to former refereeing official
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-16 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Feb 16 (Reuters) - Spanish prosecutors are investigating around 1.4 million euros ($1.50 million) in payments soccer giants Barcelona had made over three years to a company owned by a high-ranking official of Spain's refereeing body, the club said, confirming an earlier media report. Spanish radio Cadena SER said on Wednesday that the soccer club made the payments between 2016 and 2018 to a company of Jose Maria Enríquez Negreira, who was at the time vice-president of a refereeing committee of the Spanish football association. It said the consultant also provided, in video format, reports about youth players from other Spanish clubs. According to Spanish media reports, prosecutors launched the probe in 2022 after a tax office inspection of a company owned by Enriquez Negreira, found no record or services provided to Barcelona in return for 1.4 million euros in payments. Cadena SER quoted Enriquez Negreira as saying that his advice was verbal and included players' interactions with referees and that he denied ever favouring Barcelona in any refereeing decisions or disputes.

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