Barcelona referee payments: Current La Liga VAR official files complaint over Negreira case

• La Liga official files Negreira complaint
• Negreira accused of taking payments from Barcelona
• Payments totalled over €1.6 million

WHAT HAPPENED? Catalan referee Fernandez has lodged a criminal complaint against Enríquez Negreira and his son Javier amid the ongoing scandal that sees Barcelona accused of making 33 payments to him via a company he owns. TV3 report that Fernandez filed the complaint in the Barcelona investigative court, accusing the pair of sports corruption.

THE BIGGER PICTURE: Fernandez has asked for the case to be investigated in order to defend the honour of the league's referees. As it stands, the Technical Committee of Referees are yet to file their own official complaint against Negreira or his son.

The Catalan official made his debut in La Liga in 2009 and has been a full FIFA international since 2011, but has not refereed in La Liga since 2021.

AND WHAT'S MORE: Barcelona have outright denied the accusations against them, which are said to have taken place between 2016 and 2018. Furthermore, they claimed that the report is merely an attempt by rivals to destabilise the club now that they sit back at the top of La Liga once again.

IN TWO PHOTOS:

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WHAT NEXT? Barcelona will expect to clear their name off the pitch, while on the pitch they must bounce back from being dumped out of the Europa League by Manchester United.