Barcelona: Charged with corruption .... again!

Alejandro Balde renovated until 2028.
The contracts of the young academy players ( and Pedri) are as follows:
  • Pedri 2026
  • Gavi 2026
  • Cubarsí 2026
  • Araujo 2026
  • Iñaki Peña 2026
  • Lamine Yamal 2026
  • Ansu Fati 2027
  • Balde 2028
  • Fermín 2028
 
tomaldinho1 said:
I used to earn 15m a year, now I earn 12m. I, too, am one of the people.
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According to rumours he plays basically for the minimum wage. Laporta's agent confirmed it:



Yes I know, you don't have to believe him. But Barca had practically zero financial fair play room to sign players on deadline day and they used the last for Cancelo. I belive him that he gave up a big amount to be able to play again this year and get his career going again. We're broke as feck, but thankfully still have a name that draws players.
 
Tebas also spoke of the impact of Joao Felix's salary on Barça, which will pay him 400,000 euros, but that for the "purposes" of the employers "is not what he can pay" the club chaired by Joan Laporta. "One thing is the contract, which may be 400,000, but another is how we value it in LaLiga and it is not 400,000 euros, it is much more. LaLiga puts a value on the player according to what we study, not according to the value that the club says he has, "he remarked.

Javier Gómez, corporate general director and father of the economic control of LaLiga:

"One thing is what the clubs pay the players, then depending on the cases there are internal assessments of LaLiga that adapts those contracts. We have valued that contract much more. Barça pays money to Joao Felix that is much lower than what we have valued".

During the presentation, Javier Tebas explained that Barça had made "a very big effort to reduce its wage bill" from 567 million to the current 405, not counting the rest of the sections that entail an expense of 90 million. This means that Barça has reduced its wage bill by 162 million euros.
 
Ragnar123 said:
According to rumours he plays basically for the minimum wage. Laporta's agent confirmed it:



Yes I know, you don't have to believe him. But Barca had practically zero financial fair play room to sign players on deadline day and they used the last for Cancelo. I belive him that he gave up a big amount to be able to play again this year and get his career going again. We're broke as feck, but thankfully still have a name that draws players.
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Think the post below this basically disproves this if I’m reading it correctly.
Edit. Sorry above not below
 
Don_Johan14 said:
Tebas also spoke of the impact of Joao Felix's salary on Barça, which will pay him 400,000 euros, but that for the "purposes" of the employers "is not what he can pay" the club chaired by Joan Laporta. "One thing is the contract, which may be 400,000, but another is how we value it in LaLiga and it is not 400,000 euros, it is much more. LaLiga puts a value on the player according to what we study, not according to the value that the club says he has, "he remarked.

Javier Gómez, corporate general director and father of the economic control of LaLiga:

"One thing is what the clubs pay the players, then depending on the cases there are internal assessments of LaLiga that adapts those contracts. We have valued that contract much more. Barça pays money to Joao Felix that is much lower than what we have valued".

During the presentation, Javier Tebas explained that Barça had made "a very big effort to reduce its wage bill" from 567 million to the current 405, not counting the rest of the sections that entail an expense of 90 million. This means that Barça has reduced its wage bill by 162 million euros.
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What are the odds they gave Felix a €400k a year contract but 10% in Barca Studios or whatever 'lever' they want to sell?
 
Felix reducing his salary massively just to play.
Meanwhile we have Maguire refusing to go to West Ham to have minutes, and instead he prefers to rot in the bench to collect his paycheck.
 
colombianmancunian said:
Felix reducing his salary massively just to play.
Meanwhile we have Maguire refusing to go to West Ham to have minutes, and instead he prefers to rot in the bench to collect his paycheck.
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If your employer wanted to shift you out for a 25% less pay, but it would make you happier they said. Would you?
 
GinobiliTheGOAT said:
Laporta has done a great job, not his biggest fan but credit to where credit is due
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He's just Bartomeu in disguise. Except he allegedly also started the ref bribery as well.

It's easy to look good short term when you mortgage everything to the hilt to compete.

What happens in a downturn though?
 
Mb194dc said:
He's just Bartomeu in disguise. Except he allegedly also started the ref bribery as well.

It's easy to look good short term when you mortgage everything to the hilt to compete.

What happens in a downturn though?
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With all due respect, Laporta had to activate levers so that the debt did not increase even more.

In the 21-22 season without levers the losses would be €150M.
In the 22-23 season without levers the losses would be close to €200M.
Mainly because of the ascending legacy contracts and end-of-contract bonuses of players such as Messi, Piqué, Alba, Busquets.
The vice president said they also inherited €389M in deferred salaries, of which €70M million remain to be paid.
That's what the levers were for, to cover the losses already foreseen.

The budget for the 23-24 season is not yet known but it was leaked that a profit of about €11M before tax was expected. And no levers.

And without comparing the legacy team with the current one, the difference is abysmal.
I can't put links , but anyone can go to transfermarkt and see the squad of the season 20-21 and compare it with the current one.

The wage bill has been reduced by about €300M in 3 years.

Balance in signings from 21-22 to 23-24

Barcelona - €230M. €215M. - €15M Rank 73
And with a mixed squad of veteran and youth. With a lot of future. In addition to winning LaLiga when nobody expected it.

Meanwhile other teams in that time period.

1- Chelsea / - 707M
2- United / - 481M
3- Arsenal / - 471M
7- PSG / - 312M
27- Bayern / - 79M
30- Madrid / - 63M
 
Mb194dc said:
He's just Bartomeu in disguise. Except he allegedly also started the ref bribery as well.

It's easy to look good short term when you mortgage everything to the hilt to compete.

What happens in a downturn though?
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nah, furthest thing from Barto.

new stadium upgrades on the way, club still makes a ton of money,

https://www.fcbarcelona.com/en/news...ith-record-figures-in-the-commercial-area/amp

Seeing as how they are still a hot spot for players to join I think they’ll be fine long term. As long as they aren’t giving out moronic wages like Barto did it’ll be good
 
[El Confidencial] Judge in Negreira case charges FC Barcelona with bribery and leaves it on the verge of the dock

The instructor of the Negreira case, Judge Joaquín Aguirre, has just issued an order in which he maintains that FC Barcelona's payments to the former vice-president of the Technical Committee of Arbitrators (CTA) José María Enríquez Negreira would constitute an alleged bribery offense, a criminal offense that does not require proving the adulteration of specific matches and that contemplates more serious sentences than the offense of corruption between individuals that was attributed until now to the investigated parties. The club has been automatically charged under this new criminal offense.

The change of criterion will foreseeably speed up the proceedings. Bribery only requires proof that an official or public authority has requested money or some compensation to make an unfair decision within the scope of its powers. In the Negreira case, not only is there a request or promise of payment, but it has already been proven that Barça transferred to the accounts of the referee leader and those of his son, Javier Enriquez Romero, more than 7 million euros for services that could not be justified, as the club itself acknowledged to the Tax Agency.

The holder of the Court of Instruction number 1 of Barcelona recalls that, when those payments were made, between 2001 and 2018, Negreira was vice president of the CTA of the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF), an "institution that has the character of a public-legal person" by exercising functions delegated by the State for the regulation of a sport. This status, the judge points out, equated the referee with an official or authority and obliged him to be "impartial and to treat all teams equally".

The order also states that "it is clear that the payments made to the Enríquez Negreira family were for him to carry out acts related to his position, either because of his influence with other members of the CTA in charge of appointing referees, or because he scored the referees, conditioning their promotion or relegation, or because of his general influence as vice-president and the ascendancy over other members of the CTA, which he must have had if he was kept in the position for 25 years". Unlike what happens with the crime of corruption between private individuals, even in the case that Negreira was not accredited to make a management so that the referees favored Barça, "the crime of bribery would have already been consummated when the payment was made," concludes the resolution. In that sense, the judge believes it is evident that the former vice president of the CTA knew the seriousness of the facts when he threatened Barça with an intimidating letter in June 2018, after the entity stopped paying him. "From the latter it is clear that Enríquez Negreira was aware that there had been illicit acts in favor of FC Barcelona of quite seriousness," he notes.

With the introduction of bribery, a hypothetical trial would now be held by jury procedure. In the case of penalties, there are also significant differences. The Penal Code punishes bribery with between 3 and 6 years in prison, while corruption between private individuals is punished with between 6 months and 4 years in prison.

The order clarifies that FC Barcelona has been immediately charged with bribery as a legal entity. This new situation may have effects in the sporting field. UEFA has decided for now not to sanction but its code of ethics explicitly pursues the payment of bribes to authorities with the aim of corrupting the competition. Likewise, some of the funds that have granted the club 1.5 billion euros to build the so-called Espai Barça introduced in the financing agreements a clause that allows them to withdraw from the project if the entity is investigated or formally prosecuted.

As for the other defendants, with this new order, Negreira faces a continuing crime of passive bribery and his son, a continuing crime of passive bribery as a necessary cooperator. For their part, former club presidents Josep María Bartomeu and Sandro Rosell and former directors Óscar Grau and Albert Soler face a continuous crime of active bribery. To these charges must be added, in addition, the crimes of money laundering, false documentation and disloyal administration, which remain in force since the opening of the case and further complicate the procedural horizon of all of them. The club has been automatically charged with this new criminal offense.

The instructor of the Negreira case, Judge Joaquín Aguirre, has just issued an order in which he maintains that FC Barcelona's payments to the former vice-president of the Technical Committee of Referees (CTA) José María Enríquez Negreira would constitute an alleged bribery crime, a criminal type that does not require proving the adulteration of specific matches and that contemplates more serious sentences than the crime of corruption between individuals that was attributed until now to those investigated.
 
It is ridiculous that the football world acts normally with what is going on with City and Barca. The life goes on for these two clubs as normal but in reality, they should be banned as institutions from all sorts of activities let alone football related.
 
No surprise here. You don't pay €7m for a bit of advice!
 
Scottynaldinho said:
It is ridiculous that the football world acts normally with what is going on with City and Barca. The life goes on for these two clubs as normal but in reality, they should be banned as institutions from all sorts of activities let alone football related.
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Relegation would be a fitting punishment, and no European football for a season or two.

A fine and a 'don't do it again please' is laughable to the people running these clubs.

But money talks and makes the world go around, so it will be a fine, if anything at all.
 
Scottynaldinho said:
It is ridiculous that the football world acts normally with what is going on with City and Barca. The life goes on for these two clubs as normal but in reality, they should be banned as institutions from all sorts of activities let alone football related.
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It's just this massive elephant in the room that is not discussed, not by fellow professionals, not by other owners, not by the media, it's just... there. It's insane.
 
Rooney in Paris said:
It's just this massive elephant in the room that is not discussed, not by fellow professionals, not by other owners, not by the media, it's just... there. It's insane.
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Exactly. In a perfect world, the clubs should be making statements against these clubs or even boycott the clubs and not pay against them.

Just cancel these clubs.
 
Scottynaldinho said:
Exactly. In a perfect world, the clubs should be making statements against these clubs or even boycott the clubs and not pay against them.

Just cancel these clubs.
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In Spain it cannot happen for political reasons. In England I scratch my head as to why it’s just shrugged away.
 
Rooney in Paris said:
It's just this massive elephant in the room that is not discussed, not by fellow professionals, not by other owners, not by the media, it's just... there. It's insane.
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Once a ruling is made, there can be a fallout. They need to prove that matches were in fact influenced by the refs being paid.

If barca is found guilty with matches being actually influenced then by all means relegate them.

they have to let the court decide and then we will see what the punishment would be if Barca do get found to be guilty
 
Lemoor said:
Yes, famously paying refs through intermediaries is fine as long as you can't pinpoint exact decisions it affected.
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Way to lack reading comprehension. It’s not fine, but it needs to be shown what effect it had on the matches themselves. That’s the difference between being relegated or being handed a heavy fine. Otherwise why even have a trial?
 
GinobiliTheGOAT said:
Way to lack reading comprehension. It’s not fine, but it needs to be shown what effect it had on the matches themselves. That’s the difference between being relegated or being handed a heavy fine. Otherwise why even have a trial?
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I don’t understand this. Why do they have to prove what games were affected?
 
GinobiliTheGOAT said:
Way to lack reading comprehension. It’s not fine, but it needs to be shown what effect it had on the matches themselves. That’s the difference between being relegated or being handed a heavy fine. Otherwise why even have a trial?
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The irony. Read the last paragraph of the shared article.
 
cyberman said:
I don’t understand this. Why do they have to prove what games were affected?
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bribing the head of the refs absolutely deserves punishment, but the point of the trial is to highlight what the money was for. Is it for money laundering? Which would carry its own punishment. If it’s for getting an advantage over the rest of the league and giving Barca favor over the rest of the league that is a different/more serious punishment.
 
GinobiliTheGOAT said:
bribing the head of the refs absolutely deserves punishment, but the point of the trial is to highlight what the money was for. Is it for money laundering? Which would carry its own punishment. If it’s for getting an advantage over the rest of the league and giving Barca favor over the rest of the league that is a different/more serious punishment.
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But this says otherwise. They dont have to prove what games were rigged.

The instructor of the Negreira case, Judge Joaquín Aguirre, has just issued an order in which he maintains that FC Barcelona's payments to the former vice-president of the Technical Committee of Referees (CTA) José María Enríquez Negreira would constitute an alleged bribery crime, a criminal type that does not require proving the adulteration of specific matches and that contemplates more serious sentences than the crime of corruption between individuals that was attributed until now to those investigated.
 
cyberman said:
But this says otherwise. They dont have to prove what games were rigged.

The instructor of the Negreira case, Judge Joaquín Aguirre, has just issued an order in which he maintains that FC Barcelona's payments to the former vice-president of the Technical Committee of Referees (CTA) José María Enríquez Negreira would constitute an alleged bribery crime, a criminal type that does not require proving the adulteration of specific matches and that contemplates more serious sentences than the crime of corruption between individuals that was attributed until now to those investigated.
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Sure, but as bad of an offense as that would be, the punishment would be a lot more severe should they find direct proof of match tampering. This is why they opted for bribery accusations since finding hard evidence of match fixing will be much harder to prove.

Bribery fall out could lead to a very big fine, and if Barca are guilty I have always said punish them to the max. But I’d be surprised if the punishment would be bigger than had they found actual evidence of match fixing

hence why we have to have a trial and everything otherwise it would be a very quick open and shut case
 
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