The judge accused Barcelona of committing the crime of bribing referees. Los Cules was proven to have paid the former vice president of the Referee Committee, Jose Maria Enriquez Negreira.
According to Spanish media, El Debate, judge Joaquin Aguirre handed down charges against Barcelona. Blaugrana was found guilty of giving bribes of 7.5 million euros to Negreira between 2001-2018.
Negreira himself is considered a public official who is prohibited from receiving payment for carrying out his public duties at the Spanish Referee Committee (CTA). The money he received from Barcelona was considered a bribery crime.
Two former Barcelona presidents, Josep Maria Bartoemu and Sandro Rosell, were found guilty in this case. Negreira and his son, Javier Enriquez Romero, were also found guilty.
Barcelona does not use "traditional payment methods", but instead uses "new forms of possible illegitimate remuneration." To the judge, this represented "possible systemic corruption" at the CTA since Negreira controlled the referee qualification system.
One of the most damning aspects of this indictment is evidence of Negreira's threatening letter to Bartomeu in mid-2018. Negreira threatened to reveal a series of facts that could harm Barcelona if the club did not continue making payments to him.
"This shows that Enriquez Negreira was aware of serious illicit actions that benefited Barca," said judge Joaquin Aguirre's statement, reported by El Debate.
In addition to bribery, Negreira, Rosell, Bartomeu and former directors Soler and Grau are accused of ongoing crimes of corruption in business in the form of sports fraud, unfair administration and falsification of other commercial documents.
A separate investigation was launched in early September 2023 regarding the money laundering carried out by Negreira and his son, as well as the network of companies through which the money was transferred.
Barcelona previously denied bribing Negreira for the benefit of his club. Joan Laporta, as club president, said that this case was created to damage the Blaugrana's image.