Former Barca presidents deny corruption at ref scandal court appearance

FC Barcelona's former president Josep Maria Bartomeu leaves the Ciutat de la Justicia courthouse after a hearing on the ongoing FC Barcelona corruption case regarding alleged bribery payments to former refereeing chief, in Barcelona, on September 18, 2025. [AFP]

Former Barcelona presidents Sandro Rosell and Josep Maria Bartomeu insisted Thursday that payments the club made to a former refereeing chief during their time at the helm were not corrupt, during a court appearance on Thursday.

The club and some former officials are being investigated as part of the "Negreira case", after they paid a company owned by Jose Maria Enriquez Negreira more than 7.3 million euros ($8.6 million) between 2001 and 2018, according to a complaint filed in 2023 which sent shockwaves across Spanish football.

Prosecutors suspect Barcelona paid Negreira, the former vice-president of Spain's refereeing committee (CTA) between 1994 and 2018, to influence refereeing decisions, while the club maintains the payments were for refereeing reports and advice.

"Today it became clear that many of the theories raised in recent years have been quashed," Bartomeu, president between 2014 and 2020 told reporters outside a Barcelona court.

"It was clarified that there were advisory services, referee reports, guidance regarding pre-and post-match matters (provided), and that there was a financial trade-off for that advisory work."

Rosell, his predecessor in office between 2010 and 2014 left without making a public statement.

During his court appearance, in which he only answered questions from his lawyer, the former Barca chief said payments were for sporting advisory services and never intended to pay off referees or manipulate the competition.

According to Spanish media, both also stated that these payments were inherited from previous administrations.

In addition to Rosell and Bartomeu, other individuals under investigation, such as Enriquez Negreira's son, were also summoned to testify on Thursday.

The investigation began in March 2023 after Spain's tax authorities identified irregularities in tax payments made between 2016 and 2018 by the company Dasnil 95 -- owned by Negreira.