In the end, Joan Laporta could not escape the involvement in the referee-buying scandal. Judge Joaquin Aguirre, responsible for investigating the Negreira case, has charged the Barcelona president with “bribery,” with a possible penalty of up to 7 and a half years in prison…
Why wasn’t Laporta charged before?
In the list of individuals accused released by the Spanish prosecutor’s office in March 2023, only two former Barcelona presidents, Josep Maria Bartomeu and Sandro Rosell, were included. The key figures, including the father and son of the former referee Jose Maria Enriquez Negreira, were naturally part of it, along with some Barcelona directors.
Back then, the regulations did not allow for revisiting events that occurred during the terms of the two previous presidents, Joan Gaspart and Joan Laporta. The reason was that the criminal behavior at that time was determined to be “sports fraud.” For this offense, the investigation timeline was limited to 5 years from the last offense.
This also means that with Barcelona’s final transfer to Negreira occurring on July 17, 2018, the prosecutor’s office was only authorized to investigate until 2013. Meanwhile, Laporta finished his first term as president in 2010. Therefore, he was effectively outside the “statute of limitations.”
What’s the basis for charging Laporta?
However, Laporta and the Barcelona directors from his first term as president are still “caught” due to another offense. Judge Aguirre considered Enriquez Negreira, a former vice president of the Spanish Football Federation’s referee committee, as a “public official.” Therefore, in addition to the charge of “sports fraud,” the leadership of Barcelona is also charged with “extended bribery.”
According to Section 2, Article 132.1 of the Spanish Penal Code, the investigation timeline for this offense is extended to 10-15 years from the date of the last violation. Barcelona’s last transaction with Negreira, supported by invoices, took place on June 14, 2018. Meanwhile, the last time the club directly transferred money to this former referee was just over a month later, on July 17, 2018.
With any of these two dates, Laporta remains liable because he was the president of Barcelona in 2008. Besides the two charges of sports fraud and bribery, Laporta and his two successors, Rosell and Bartomeu, are also being investigated for offenses involving management fraud and forgery of documents related to a commercial contract.
What is the charge of bribery?
The charge of giving and receiving corruption encompasses a series of actions that harm the public interest, as defined in Articles 419 to 427 of the Spanish Penal Code. It is established when an individual or organization attempts to influence public officials through money, gifts, or even promises.
In Laporta’s case, Judge Joaquin Aguirre considered the former vice president of the Spanish Football Federation’s referee committee, Enriquez Negreira, a “public official.” However, this could still be a matter of contention as the RFEF is not a government agency. This could also be the basis for Laporta to contest the prosecutor’s charges.
What penalties might Laporta and his associates face? In the worst-case scenario, Laporta could face significant fines if they can’t prove their innocence. The charge of bribing a public official carries a penalty of 3 to 6 years in prison and a ban from participating in football activities for 9 to 12 years.
Laporta, in particular, is also charged with “extended bribery” because he and the Barcelona leadership spent 7.3 million euros with Negreira’s company from 2001 to 2018. With this charge, the penalty could go up to 7 and a half years in prison. However, legal battles like this typically do not end quickly, and it’s not unlikely that there will be more unexpected twists shortly.
