FC Barcelona as a legal entity have landed themselves in fresh troubles on account of the actions of her past administrations and the club is now charged with the crime of “Continued Corruption in Business”.
Reports on Friday evening revealed some of the secrets of bribery and corruption the club has been involved in, including paying the company of José María Enrique Negreira, the former Vice President of Spain’s Refereeing Committee.
Barcelona reportedly paid the sum of €7.3 million to Negreira’s company between 2001 and 2018 in order they would influence actions, which include the hiring of referees and refereeing decisions during matches.
Prosecutors in Spain have charged the club with corruption for the actions, which had been done in over the tenure of five different presidents at then club, including the first tenure of current president, Joan Laporta.
Barcelona, who are currently faced with poor finance and are no being helped by their poor performances in Europe face another crisis, which could land them into deeper troubles if proven guilty.
Of the penalties the club could face in the event that they are proven guilty of the charges would be four years in prison for individuals involved in the allegations.
This mean it would reach the doorsteps of one of their former president, Josef Maria Bartomeu, a man who is not much loved by fans of the club due to the thousands of corruptions already leveled at him.
Unfortunately, current president, Joan Laporta, who has been helping them move on from the ruins they had been led into by the Bartomeu’s administration will also be affected as the duration of the corrupt practices also fell into his first stint as the club’s president.
Sandro Rossell, who was the club’s president between 2010 and 2014 will also get a part of the penalties, including Joan Gaspert, whom in his time the corruption started.
Another one of the possible penalties will be professional disqualifications and fines for groups or enterprises involved in the action of corruption, which is the most alarming part for any fan of the club.
Investigation will continue and the club will also be allowed to defend itself from the charges but we look forward to more breakthrough in the case, as Barcelona seems to get themselves into troubles of late.
Author : Kehinde Hassan Afolabi
