Former Barcelona coach Gerard Lopez has admitted to using the infamous referee scouting reports, which are at the centre of the biggest corruption scandal in Spanish football history.
Barcelona are accused of sports corruption after making payments of 7-8 million euros over a 17-year period to companies linked to former vice-president of the Referees' Committee (CTA), Jose Maria Enriquez Negreira. The Catalan club has denied any wrongdoing and has maintained its innocence of all charges.
The crux of the matter lies in the Spanish prosecution's belief that the reports and consulting services provided by Negreira's companies did not match the amount of payments made by Barcelona.
Furthermore, the club has been unable to provide documentation for the entire 17-year period, arguing that the reports are periodically destroyed every five years.
Gerard López
Also, former coaches Ernesto Valverde and Luis Enrique have testified in court that they did not see, use or were informed of the existence of the reports on referees.
Unlike them, former Barcelona B (Barça Atlético) coach Gerard Lopez has stated that he used the reports, although he has described the club's involvement with Negreira as a "historic mistake".
"Negreira is a historic mistake for Barça, but to say that referees have been bought. I was in the reserve team and I received referee reports from Negreira's son, which were extremely useful for me," Lopez told Zero Wave.
Former Barcelona presidents Joan Gaspart, Sandro Rosell, Josep Maria Bartomeu, as well as current president Joan Laporta, have all testified in court, denying that the club gained any sporting advantage from its relationship with Negreira.
However, his son, Javier Enriquez Romero, who worked in his father's companies preparing reports, stated that the payments "were not just for the reports," without specifically explaining what else they were for.Telegrafi/
