Barcelona said it had severed all ties with Sevilla after the Andalusian club announced that its executives would not sit in the directors’ box at Barcelona’s Luis Compagnies Olympic Stadium during Friday’s La Liga match between the two teams.
Sevilla announced its departure from the match-day protocol after Barcelona was accused of bribery on Thursday. The charges relate to payments worth more than 7 million euros ($7.3 million) to companies linked to the former vice president of the arbitration panel, Jose María Enriquez Negrera, according to court documents unsealed Thursday.
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Former Barcelona presidents Josep Maria Bartomeu and Sandro Rosell also face the same charges, as well as Negrera and his son Javier Enriquez Romero.
“FC Barcelona would like to publicly demonstrate its condemnation of the unprovoked and inappropriate attack carried out by Sevilla, after the club today refused to attend the institutional lunch between the directors before today’s match between the two teams at its home stadium.” [Barcelona’s] Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companies, whose representatives also refused to take their places in the directors’ box,” Barcelona said in a club statement.
Moreover, the Andalusian club published a statement expressing its “indignation and condemnation of the practices carried out by the former Barcelona managers mentioned in the Negreira case,” and announcing his absence from the directors’ box for today’s match.
“FC Barcelona believes this is an attack on the Catalan establishment and an unacceptable crime.”
The statement continued: “Therefore, Sevilla’s position seems illogical given that, on the one hand, it ignores the presumption of innocence, and on the other hand, it deprives FC Barcelona of its right to defense in the legal process currently underway.”
“In light of this unacceptable and unjustified position of FC Sevilla, FC Barcelona believes that all institutional ties with the institution of Sevilla have been severed until their current position is corrected.”
Sevilla managers attended Friday’s match, which Barcelona won 1-0, but in a statement earlier in the day the club condemned the alleged actions of their opponents.
“We express our outrage and full condemnation of the actions of the former Barcelona officials accused in the Negrera case, actions that were allegedly deemed criminal by the court, as stated in the court order published in the media.” He said in a statement.
“We reject Barcelona’s behavior during the periods in which these alleged crimes occurred.
“For this reason, we have suspended the normal protocol corresponding to the Spanish League match scheduled for Friday between Barcelona and Sevilla and we will not have any representation in the VIP box at the Montjuïc Stadium.
“We want to express our deep respect to Barcelona members and season ticket holders, as well as to their current employees and officials who work every day at Barcelona and who are indirectly involved in this matter.
“We respect the Spanish judicial system, the presumption of innocence, and any decisions that the relevant courts and disciplinary bodies may take in any direction.
“We hope, for the sake of competition, that all events in the Negrera case will be clarified in light of the judge’s recent considerations.”
Barcelona are also facing charges of business corruption, false administration and forging commercial documents after the payments emerged in February.
The Blaugrana paid Negrera’s companies more than 7 million euros between 2001 and 2018, when he was vice-president of the arbitration committee. He was previously a referee in the Spanish First Division.
Current Barcelona president Joan Laporta said the payments were in exchange for “technical reports on referees” and denied that the club had “bought referees or influence”.
However, prosecutors accused Rosell and Bartomeu of reaching an agreement with Negrera “whereby he would carry out actions aimed at favoring Barcelona in making refereeing decisions in matches played by the club and therefore in the results of competitions.”
This led to the court opening an investigation in March, which ultimately led to the latest developments being revealed on Thursday.
Rosell assumed the presidency of Barcelona from 2010 to 2014 before Bartomeu replaced him. After six years at the helm of the Catalan club, Bartomeu resigned in 2020, and Laporta was elected as his replacement in 2021.
