By Victor Kanayo
La Liga giants Barcelona have now been officially charged with corruption by Spanish League organisers.
The charge borders on that the Catalans siphoned more than £6million to a company owned by Jose Maria Enriquez Negreira, who served as Spain’s refereeing committee’s vice-president between 1994 and 2018.
Specifically, Barcelona are accused of paying the said amount to Negreira for 17 years, including the period Pep Guardiola was the head coach of the club.
The reported payments, according to TheSun, happened between 2001 and 2018.
Report said Spanish LaLiga chief Javier Tebas turned the matter over to state prosecutors because the alleged payments were outside his competition’s statute of limitations.
Being party to the allegations, former Barcelona presidents Josep Maria Bartomeu and Sandro Rosell, and Negreira have all been charged with corruption.
In response, Barcelona management currently led by Joan Laporta has denied any wrongdoing in the matter.
Also, Real Madrid have responded to Barcelona’s charges by calling for an urgent board meeting to determine their response.
