Rosell and Bartomeu to testify in Negreira Case on September 18
The former presidents of FC Barcelona, Sandro Rosell and Josep Maria Bartomeu, have been scheduled to testify as part of an investigation into payments made to Jose Maria Enriquez Negreira, the former vice president of the Technical Committee of Referees (CTA). The hearings, initially planned for June 17 and 30, were delayed after one of the accused’s lawyer had prior commitments.
Judge Alejandra Gil, head of the Court of Instruction No. 1 of Barcelona, has now set a new date for the testimonies: September 18.
In addition to Rosell and Bartomeu, others who will be required to testify include Javier Enriquez, the son of Jose Maria Enriquez Negreira, Ana Paula Rufas, Enriquez Negreira’s partner, former FC Barcelona director of professional sports Albert Soler, and the club’s former executive director Oscar Grau.
The investigation is centered on whether the payments made by FC Barcelona to Enriquez Negreira and his son — amounting to nearly €7m between 2001 and 2018 — could be deemed “illegitimate” compensation to football referees, possibly forming part of a “systemic” corruption scheme within the CTA during Negreira’s time as vice president.
However, sources close to the accused remain optimistic that the case will be dismissed, stating there is no evidence of wrongdoing, as the payments were reportedly made for the reports provided by Enriquez Negreira and his son to the club.
