Article 112 states that “very serious offenses will become time-barred after three years”, so that Barcelona will not face any sanctions, while the Federation announces that “it will appear in court” and communicates that “it will take the corresponding measures”.
The “Negreira case” is said to have already been prescribed under Article 112 of the new sports law approved by Congress on December 22. The article in question states that “very serious offenses expire after three years, serious offenses after two years and minor offenses after six months”. The alleged conflict of interest ended in 2018, coinciding with the resignation of the former vice-president of the CTA, so there would be no more sanctions against Barcelona.
Barcelona’s payments to the former referee and member of the commission would appear in Article 104.1 as a “very serious offence”. The article includes those “actions aimed at predetermining, by prize, intimidation or simple agreements, the outcome of a test or competition, whether or not it affects the outcome, and, in general, actions involving an attempt to the normal development of a competition or sporting activity. The penalty for this violation would be “loss or relegation from category or division” as defined in Article 108.1 of the new Sports Act.
This “very serious” offense and which could mean “demotion in category” is annulled by Article 112, and when classified as “very serious”, it becomes time-barred after three years. At the end of 2018, it will be more than four years since the last payment between Barcelona and the former vice-president of the CTA, for which the Barça entity will go unpunished.
There are some precedents for corruption in football history. The most notorious case was that of Juventus in Turin, who were relegated in category and fined financially in 2006 for influencing the referees to win the previous season’s matches, in a plot coined the ‘Moggigate’.
Although there are similarities, the Italian team’s case is even more serious than Barcelona’s, as the Italian federation confiscated phone calls proving the corrupt plot based on the Turin team’s influence over the referees.
In turn, the Royal Spanish Football Federation issued a statement this Thursday in light of the various information on the ‘Negreira case’, in the context of the alleged conflict of interest between the former vice-president of the technical committee of referees and Barcelona, in that the Catalan club would have paid 1.4 million euros to Enríquez Negreira between 2016 and 2018 for advising the Spanish referees.
In the statement, the Federation first emphasizes that “after the elections for the RFEF Presidency at the end of May 2018, with the arrival of the current government team, the leadership of the CTA was renewed, with the previous managers, including Mr. Enríquez Negreira, present ”, clarifying that this case only concerns the government teams prior to the mandate of Luis Rubiales.
“The RFEF requires, in addition to the Declaration of No Conflicts of Interest to all members of various bodies and employees, a comprehensive statement signed by all members of the Disciplinary and Arbitration Nomination Committees obliging them to declare any income regardless of what is observed in the RFEF , which could be related to football. It further adds that “all members have submitted and signed these documents”.
They also confirm that the RFEF’s Integrity Department launched a process on Wednesday to request information “both from those responsible for the CTA and from FC Barcelona”.
“The RFEF yesterday agreed to appear in any potential legal proceedings being pursued on this issue. As soon as sufficient information is available, the RFEF will take the corresponding action within the framework of the legality that must prevail in all these situations,” the statement concluded.
Source: La Verdad
I am Shawn Partain, a journalist and content creator working for the Today Times Live. I specialize in sports journalism, writing articles that cover major sporting events and news stories. With a passion for storytelling and an eye for detail, I strive to be accurate and insightful in my work.
