Did Barcelona influence the referee? Probably wrong, since Real Madrid won the league that year anyway

Subtitles. Articles like this generate profits, clicks and readership for all media outlets. On social media, the whole situation surrounding Barcelona and their alleged influence on referees is presented as a huge scandal, but in texts with little information. We always need to look at the whole picture before drawing any conclusions.

Jose Maria Enriquez was a former referee. He has not been an active referee for a long time. He retired in 1992. However, he served as the Vice President of the Technical Commission of Referees from 1994 to 2018. Barcelona was to be investigated for payments made between 2016 and 2018.

The Catalan big club reacted extremely quickly to the reports, claiming that it had paid this external company for reports on talented players from other clubs in Spain from lower competitions and technical reports on referees (how players should behave towards referees).

What is mentioned in the previous paragraph is legal. Obtaining information about referees is a common practice in professional football. For example, a close friend of Casemiro, Bruno dos Anjos, explains that Casemiro used to request information about referees before a match. Why?

It is to understand the behaviour of referees during matches. What they can accept and what is over the edge. Referees have different styles of whistling. Josep Maria Bartomeu (president of FC Barcelona at the time of the allegations) claims that the Catalan big club has been paying for external consultancy since 2003.

Jose Maria Enriquez has already testified before the prosecutor’s office and denied that Barcelona ever received any benefits from referees on the pitch. Joan Laporta is understandably upset by the latest news as well, which is evident from his statement.

“In the past, Barcelona has hired the services of an external consultant to obtain reports on players from the lower competitions and to advise referees, a service also hired by other Spanish clubs. The news is surprising and it is no coincidence that it has come now.”

As always, however, there are two sides to the story. Barcelona has received fewer penalty kicks than Real Madrid. The Catalans were also denied that legitimate goal that essentially decided the league. But that’s a story for another day.

Apart from anything else, it’s worth remembering that the club is not accused of any crime, the only one under investigation by Barcelona prosecutors is Enriquez Negreira as a result of a Treasury audit for alleged tax fraud for failing to declare several invoices.

In addition, the document circulating through social networks regarding the three payments is fake. As revealed by the daily Mundo Deportivo, there were 33 invoices with amounts ranging mostly between 45 and 50 thousand euros for technical video consulting.

The whole event is tied back five months, with the Public Prosecutor’s Office gathering information from all parties. Enriquez Negreira’s responsibilities included going once a month for physical tests of the referees.

He was never a member of the match referee appointment committee, nor did he evaluate their promotions/designations. For that reason alone and the facts obtained by the State Attorney’s Office, there is no crime or incident beyond a moral conflict.

Moreover, the current president of the club, Joan Laporta, points out that “it is no coincidence that this information has now come to light.” A mere speculative campaign based by journalists on biased and prejudiced information. Without being accused of anything, without being investigated by anyone and without committing any crime.

However, let’s go back to the invoices already mentioned and for the consultancy work that took place between January 2016 and January 2018. In the list of 32 invoices, we see a large number of payments for the 2016/17 season, when Real Madrid were also league champions.

If we wanted to dig further into the whole reality, Carlos Megia Davila, a former referee was on Real Madrid’s payroll. Indeed. This referee signed a contract with the White Ballet in 2009 because they wanted a “better relationship” with referees in Spain and Europe.

Source: Twitter, Mundo Deportivo