Enriquez Negreira had nothing to do with the referee designations – former referee Iturralde Gonzalez | OneFootball

Barcelona are once again bogged down in controversy after reports emerged that they had been paying the Vice-President of the Technical Comittee of Referees, Enriquez Negreira. His company Dasnil 95 provided scouting advice and consultancy on referees, for which they received €1.4m over three years. According to former referee Eduardo Iturralde Gonzalez, he had little influence over referees themselves though.

The Blaugrana presented documents to the tax authorities that showed payments between the two between 2016 and 2018, which Negreira is being investigated for. While a number of convenient statistics have been presented, without proof of help from referees, Barcelona will not be punished.

According to former La Liga referee Eduardo Iturralde Gonzalez, there was very little opportunity for Negreira to have much say in the matter.

“The friendship that united Victoriano Sanchez Arminio, then president of the CTA, is what led him to be vice-president. Enriquez Negreira was the one who called you when you were promoted or relegated as a referee. But the appointments were direct from Victoriano Sanchez Arminio. Then they gave way to the draw model. Then it was a computer system. After the appointments came the Triumvirate: with one from the CTA —Victoriano—, one from LaLiga —Lopez Nieto— and one by consensus —Puentes Neira— during his tenure there were three models of designation: him as vice president, designation via computer draw and via Triumvirate.”

Iturralde made the comments to Cadena SER, before going on to say that it was customary for clubs to have advice on referees.

“Many clubs have ex-referees who advise them on the way a referee has to referee. The same thing that Carrusel Deportivo asks me. The one who commits a crime is Enriquez Negreira. The statutes tell you that there is a conflict of interest: you cannot work for a club if you work for the RFEF. The one who is guilty of criminal behavior is his.”

Iturralde went on to say that he believed the Refereeing Committee should open their doors and allow a full investigation into the matter, but that he didn’t think there was anything to find.

“Enriquez Negreira is not here anymore, but Medina Cantalejo [current head of refereeing] is. He has to be part of the cause in this judicial process. What the CTA has to do is to be audited, investigated. I’ll put my neck on the line: there is no problem. Let them audit what they have to audit. The one who must be persecuted is Enriquez Negreira.”

While Barcelona look as if they will escape punishment from this, it is once again more bad press for the club. Beyond that, it raises questions about how the club is run. Various external due diligence reports have been commisioned in recent years, from the likes of Price Waterhouse Coopers, did not flag this up as potentially problematic, which in itself should be a concern for members.