Former Barcelona B manager Gerard Lopez told a Barcelona court he received refereeing reports prepared by ex-Spanish refereeing official Jose Maria Enriquez Negreira and his son, Javier Enriquez Romero.
Lopez appeared before Barcelona’s Court of First Instance Number 1 as part of the investigation into what has become known as the Negreira case.
According to judicial sources cited by Sport, Lopez said the reports were useful to him and his coaching staff when preparing for matches during his time in charge of Barcelona B between 2015 and 2018.
He explained that video assistant refereeing (VAR) did not exist at the time, meaning teams needed information covering every aspect of the game, including refereeing.
Lopez said officials appointed to matches below the top division were not widely known. The reports provided to Barcelona helped his staff understand their refereeing standards, including which officials were more or less likely to issue cards and which were more or less willing to engage in dialogue with players.
He also told the court that every team would want advance information about referees in order to prepare more effectively for matches.
Tony Alonso, who served as Barcelona B’s delegate for 32 years, also gave evidence. Judicial sources said he confirmed that the reports existed.
The investigation centres on payments of about €8m made by different Barcelona boards between 2001 and 2018 to Negreira, who was formerly vice-president of the Technical Committee of Referees. The payments were made in connection with the production of refereeing reports.
Javier Enriquez Romero, Negreira’s son, also prepared some of the documents and is himself accused in the case.
Barcelona has consistently argued that the reports were intended to analyse the profiles of referees appointed to oversee league and cup matches. The club says this enabled coaching staff to understand their tendencies and the criteria they applied while officiating.
However, former Barcelona first-team managers Luis Enrique and Ernesto Valverde both denied during their court testimonies that they had received or reviewed the reports. They said they had not needed them.
Prosecutors suspect the payments were intended to influence the Technical Committee of Referees rather than being payment for refereeing advice.
They believe former club presidents Sandro Rosell and Josep Maria Bartomeu, along with former directors Oscar Grau and Albert Soler, may have committed offences including corruption in sport, unfair administration and falsification of a commercial document.
Judicial sources told Sport that the investigation is nearing its conclusion. The court is still awaiting a number of documents from Barcelona and the tax authorities, as well as reports on Negreira’s health.
Negreira has a significant neurocognitive disorder consistent with Alzheimer’s disease.
Once the outstanding material has been received, the court may declare the investigation complete and assess whether there are indications that offences were committed. It will then decide whether the case should proceed to trial.
