Tax inspection office gives Barcelona huge boost in Negreira case

The Tax Inspection Office has handed FC Barcelona a significant boost in the Negreira scandal, potentially weakening the case.

The latest report from the Catalan Regional Tax Inspection Office has added a fresh layer to a controversy that has followed the club for years and continues to draw heavy attention across Spanish football.

The key finding is that the office concluded Barcelona’s payments to former refereeing official José María Enríquez Negreira were not made with malicious intent to buy influence or alter sporting outcomes, as reported by Mundo Deportivo.

That is a significant point for Barca, because the report explicitly rejects the idea that the funds were used to bribe referees or directly manipulate results.

According to the findings, Barcelona made more than €7.5 million in payments between 2001 and 2018, but the Tax Agency said there was no proven use of those funds for confidential information trading, referee appointments, or the alteration of match results.

The report also noted that no payment was ever made directly to any referee, and that Negreira himself did not officiate matches during the period in which the payments were made.

For Barcelona, this is an important boost because it supports the club’s long-held argument that the payments were linked to referee reports and advisory work rather than sporting corruption.

While the legal and public debate is far from over, this new report gives the Catalans a stronger line of defense.

That does not end the broader controversy, but it does shift the tone in Barcelona’s favor.

In practical terms, the finding will be welcomed at Camp Nou as another piece of support in a case that has often been used against the club.

Barcelona may still face questions, but the latest official assessment gives them a clearer argument that the payments were not made with malicious sporting intent.