Spanish referees defend themselves amid Barcelona scandal
Barcelona denied any wrongdoing and said the money was for referee reports and youth players, but Spain's public prosecutor is investigating the case after the country's tax authorities launched an investigation.
Spanish referees rallied in Madrid on Thursday to defend their profession amid a row over Barcelona's multi-million dollar payment to their former coach, who was then vice-president.
Barcelona denied any wrongdoing and said the money was for referee reports and youth players, but Spain's public prosecutor is investigating the case after the country's tax authorities launched an investigation.
"We want to make it clear that nothing is at risk except to guarantee justice," read the manifesto on behalf of all football officials.
Maniphoda hopes past builder's actions won't harm reputation of this great body & the house built during their time.
Several hundred active and former referees and assistant referees attended the first press conference held by the Spanish Football Federation since the scandal broke on February 15 on Spanish radio station Cadena SER.
The panel of referees tried to distance themselves from the relationship between Barcelona and former referee José MarÃa Enrique Negreira, who was a member of the referee committee of the Spanish Football Federation from 1994 to 2018. According to local media, Barcelona's fee for Enrique reached 7 million euros ($7.5 million ) between 2001 and 2018.
Although they did not confirm the exact figure, Barcelona admitted to Enrique's regular expenses during those years. The club has engaged an independent firm to investigate and is expected to reveal more details about its association with Enrique once the results are concluded.
Officials or the media haven't reported that the referee selected the fee for Barcelona.Many former judges who were active during Enriquez's tenure as vice president said they never felt pressured against him or any other official. They clarified that their duty is to notify referees about the competitions scheduled for each season and not about the unscheduled matches.
The secretary general of the Spanish football federation Andreu Camps, second only to president Luis Rubiales, said his organization had met requests for information from Spanish tax authorities and prosecutors and informed UEFA.
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