The Spanish Tax Agency has launched an inquiry into Barcelona for payment discrepancies. The allegations are relation to alleged discrepancies in payments to player agents in the period between 2015 to 2018.
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What happened?
According to El Confidencial, the Spanish authorities view the payments made to agents as means to increase the players’ salaries. It was done in an attempt to avoid paying extra taxes.
Tax evasion is a criminal offense in Spain and can lead to substantial penalties and even imprisonment for perpetrators.
Barcelona’s ex-president Josep Maria Bartomeu might be under the pump for this allegation. He was at the helm of the La Liga club between 2015 and 2018,
Barcelona could be subject to a further scandal. They are already the subject of an investigation for their involvement in Negreira’s bribery of referees.
Barcelona’s Negreira case
Spanish Judge Joaquín Aguirre had stated that the Barcelona’s payments to former referee vice-president Enriquez Negreira are being considered as a bribery offence.
While Barca has not been charged with ‘systematic corruption’ in the Negreira case, the recent tax fraud allegation might fall in the category.
Barca were found guilty of illegally paying €7 million to Negreira previously.
The judge’s order stated that “It is clear that the payments made to the Enríquez Negreira family were for him to carry out acts related to his position, either because of his influence with other members of the CTA in charge of appointing referees, or because he scored the referees, conditioning their promotion or relegation, or because of his general influence as vice-president and the ascendancy over other members of the CTA, which he must have had if he was kept in the position for 25 years”.
Barcelona are yet to make a statement about the new tax evasion charges.
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