When news broke out of Cadena Ser that FC Barcelona had a working relationship with the former vice-president of the Spanish Referees Committee, Enriquez Negrera, no one expected the only honest, logical comment to come from arch-rivals coach Carlo Ancelotti. .
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This is an ideal opportunity to hit below the belt, as you can see, all kinds of beatings in reality, but the Italian's statement was expressive of the enormity of the matter, because, when he spoke of "the importance of the reputation of La Liga", he saw more than gloating, slander, and the usual verbal battles between officials of the two clubs;
The fact that doubt - just doubt - about the results of one team in the league strips the credibility of the entire league.
Scandal however
Let us first tell you what the situation is on the promise of avoiding tedious legal details;
Dasnil 95, owned by Negrera, provided "technical and arbitration advice" to Barcelona between 2016-2018 for 1.4 million euros in three installments.
These services included reports on how to deal with different referees and their methods in dealing with matches, in addition to reports on the most prominent young talents in the junior stages and the lower levels of Spanish football.
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As Laporta explained in a brief statement - and perhaps the only correct information that the scandal produced - such consultations are very common among major football clubs, and are not surprising in any sense.
The main problem here is - as I expected - the fact that Negrira was working as a vice-president of the Referees Committee at that time, before he left at the end of the 2017-2018 season.
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The financial payments stopped at the same moment, which adds to the matter suspicion upon suspicion, and some analyzes considered the amounts mentioned "exaggerated for consultations of this kind", so that the suspicion turned into an unspoken popular judgment, but what is interesting about the first reactions is that Javier Tebas, president of the Association La Liga, which many consider to be stalking Real Madrid and Barcelona, or rather being prejudiced against them, stated that he did not see anything suspicious in Barcelona's matches during that period - 2016 to 2018.
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🎙️|
Javier Tebas in today's press conference on penalty data against FC Barcelona
🗣️: "I have not started to analyze it. I do not want to go into that subject, I go into the facts and I think that it cannot be. We must investigate and find a reasonable explanation."
pic.twitter.com/2yp3hInuJI
- Barça Buzz (@Barca_Buzz) February 20, 2023
Of course, this is a huge exaggeration, often aimed at vindicating the La Liga referees themselves because most of them are still active until the moment, but any follower is well aware that any 10 consecutive matches for any team in La Liga must witness a few decisions ranging from controversial to catastrophic, not to mention two full seasons for a team. Accused of bribing the vice chairman of the Referees Committee.
But the man himself confirmed that the fact that the incident was proven means that the Catalan giants have violated the law, and this is exactly the problem.
Why would Barcelona and its officials raise doubts about themselves by resorting to an institution owned by an active referee - while they could have obtained similar advice from other parties - if it was not useful?
And why did the payments stop after Negrera left office?
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Going back to this era, you can be certain that Barcelona was unfair in a number of matches during that period, especially in the 2016-2017 season;
There are shots about which it is difficult to disagree or argue.
Of course, in other matches, he received the preferential treatment of adults in some shots that became usual and natural, given that what was repeated was decided - some of Busquets’ artificial falls under pressure, for example - but the problem is that the Cadena Seir earthquake, like any earthquake, had aftershocks.
Andujar Oliver, the former referee, mentioned some disturbing details on Onda Cero radio, specifically about the relationship of Jose Maria Negrera, Enriquez's son and director of his company, with the referees active in that period, his attendance at some important Barcelona matches, and his delivery of the referees to the stadium before whistle.
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The network expands when you discover that Jose, in addition to leading his father's company, was also a member of the technical committee for the referees, meaning that his roles included training the referees, giving them instructions, and communicating with them constantly.
Don't worry, this story will continue to amaze you.
Indeed, one of the advantages of this scandal, or perhaps the only one, is that it may give you an opportunity to practice schadenfreude in good conscience;
Given that we are not alone.
sudden entry
We think the Germans call this "Schadenfreude", meaning to gloat.
The important thing is that Andujar's statements lead you to the counter-statements made by another former referee, Eduardo Iturralde Gonzalez.
If you were an old La Liga fan, you probably remember him;
Somewhat short, with rebellious black hair, strong emotions, and features that seem Arab at first glance.
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The important thing is that Gonzalez believes that Jose Maria would not have been able to influence the La Liga referees, even if he was their coach and a member of the technical committee, simply because the matter is not that easy.
did not?
Simply because Gonzalez is the same referee who triggered a similar earthquake years ago when he stated that 90% of La Liga referees already support Real Madrid.
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"90% of LaLiga referees support Real Madrid, simply because 90% of Spaniards outside the Basque Country and Catalonia support Real Madrid... Where do you think the referees come from? From Mars?"
Former referee Eduardo Iturralde Gonzalez in 2014 (9)
Former referee Eduardo Iturralde Gonzalez.
(Reuters)
Gonzalez hails from Bilbao, and is an avowed fan of the city's Athletic team.
Perhaps that is why he was chosen more than once to manage the confrontations of the two rivals, and perhaps the most famous of them was the Clasico Camp Nou in November 2010, which was full of excitement and violence, as usual, the confrontations of the two rivals during that period.
This conflict between Andujar Iturralde had an echo between former club captains Gerard Pique and Iker Casillas in one of the "Kings League" matches, which Pique co-owns and manages.
The discussion began with the latter's comment on the results of Real Madrid in the Champions League, the first individual referring to the famous Chelsea match in 2009 on the way to the sextet, then the latter returned to remind him of Fabregas's correct goal canceled against Atletico Madrid in 2014, which cost Barcelona the La Liga title at the time, so Casillas retrieved some reverse decisions Against Real Madrid in some league and cup matches, and so on.
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The main dilemma in such situations is the difficulty of proving the complicity of this or that judgment conclusively, and this is mainly due to another intuitive dilemma that does not seem to be treated;
Many decisions taken by the referee in any regular match.
According to the English Referees Committee, for example, or what is known as "PGMOL", the referee makes 245 decisions per match on average.
This equates to 3 times the average number of times a player touches the ball, with a decision rate roughly every 22 seconds.
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Before you get shocked by the number and start questioning its truth, note that "PGMOL" is about decisions, not whistles;
According to its database, there are 45 technical decisions that include goals, corners, offsides, throws, etc., and the remaining 200 are decisions related to tackles, contacts, and regular decisions.
Of these 200, there are 35 whistles, and 165 decisions to continue playing. Even continuing play requires a decision preceded by a mental process and a review of the law.
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What does all this have to do with the Barcelona scandal?
Imagine a referee making five obvious fouls in one match, so obvious that even the Referees Committee would admit them.
These five errors give him a 98% accuracy of decisions.
this is the problem;
5 wrong decisions may completely change the face of a match, but for the referee, and the committee that often supports him, they do not represent more than 2%.
In any job in the world, that's an excellent percentage of error.
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trust?
Of course, arbitration is not like any job in the world, but the same percentage applies to flag referees, for example;
They make about 50 decisions per match, of which 45 are related to offside cases, and on average, the flag is raised only in 4 cases, and again, the error rate does not exceed 2%.
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This means one decision out of 50, and since we are talking about offside cases, this wrong decision either eliminates a correct goal or counts another incorrect one in a good number of cases, and once again we only have to hit our heads against the wall because there is no human being who can Exceeding 98%.
Not convinced?
Let us give you one more reason;
The head of the committee that produced these statistics, that is, the English “PGMOL”, is “Mike Reilly”, the man whose name has been associated with the “Battle of The Buffet” scandal, which is known in some media as “Pizzagate”, in A reference to the fact that Fabregas threw a slice of pizza on Ferguson's head during the open battle that took place in the tunnel after the whistle.
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🍕 PIZZAGATE 🍕
Fabregas confirms he threw pizza at Sir Alex Ferguson during 2004 'Battle of the Buffet'
WATCH: https://t.co/uZqRZooXCS pic.twitter.com/bkX1uSKLFz
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) October 4, 2017
We don't think Reilly subjected his performance in that match to evaluation because the error rate would definitely have exceeded 2%.
In fact, it would be easier to count his correct decisions that night because there weren't many.
this is the problem;
The reference is absent, and whenever it turns to a party, it finds it mired in its own problems, suffering with accusations and doubts of the same kind, and these doubts often lead to counterproductive results.
In 2005, for example, the famous Swiss referee Andres Frisk was forced to announce his immediate retirement after receiving death threats from some Chelsea fans.
the reason?
Mourinho, then Chelsea coach, cleverly hinted at the possibility of being bribed or pressured by Barcelona coach Frank Rijkaard between half-time of the Champions League match.
Why?
Because the Portuguese coach believed that Drogba did not deserve to be sent off after two warnings, even if one of them was the result of an interference from behind during which he did not touch the ball, and the other after stepping on Victor Valdez's shoulder and knee with the bottom of the foot in a joint game.
There is a referee who lost his job because Mourinho was playing his usual psychological games.
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The famous Swiss referee "Andres Frisk" gives Drogba a red card after colliding with Barcelona goalkeeper Victor Valdes.
(Reuters)
Is there an answer?
Is there a mechanism for reviewing, correcting and monitoring the work of referees without death threats or forcing them to retire?
Probably not.
In England, for example, you have the same feeling every week;
All that the video referee added to the process was an additional step before committing the same mistake, as if the goal was to further provoke the fans.
Of course, this is not true because the video assistant referee was able to avoid more naive mistakes that were usual in the past, but some of the current mistakes are really provocative, and it cannot be imagined that they might miss the arena referee and the video referee together, and the last of which was the incident of Lee Mason forgetting to draw the offside line in a goal Brentford drew Arsenal a few days ago.
This part has nothing to do with the Barcelona scandal, of course;
There is no amount of errors or facts that could explain or justify a club's resort to a company owned by an active referee in the Referees Committee.
The case will proceed in its natural course and of course Barcelona will be subject to some penalty, and of course we will not be surprised if it is reduced, or the case takes too long, or everyone forgets about it within a week or two because a new leak has appeared, or another scandal of this Real Madrid came to light. This time, since many believe that the clubs supporting the Super League are "targeted" one after the other, especially after Tebas demanded Laporta to step down from Barcelona's presidency, which necessitated a long struggle between the two over the idea of holding the tournament.
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Does that mean you can trust football and its results?
of course not.
We thought this is self-evident.
If you did not notice, the question in the title was a disapproval, not an interrogative one, but we will trust football despite that because we simply have no other choice, led by the fans of the clubs affected by this scandal.
This is what will happen often, and this is the reality;
Negrera, Andujar, Iturralde, PGMOL, Frisk and Riley.
As for the truth, it is only an illusion agreed upon, as they say.
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Sources:
1- Barcelona paid 1.2 million pounds sterling to an official of the Referees Committee between 2016-2018 – The Athletic
2- Ancelotti is concerned about “the credibility of La Liga” in the wake of investigations into Barcelona’s financial payments to the vice-chairman of the Referees Committee – The Athletic
3- Inside Barcelona's chaotic day after a new scandal was announced - The Athletic
4- Javier Tebas, President of the League, says that he cannot open investigations regarding Barcelona's financial payments to the Vice-Chairman of the Referees Committee – The Athletic
5- Barcelona and the referees;
Scandal and 5 Mysteries - AS
6- Former La Liga referee Andujar Oliver: “It is dangerous and the referees must formally complain to Barcelona” – Football Espana
7- Schadenfreude - Encyclopedia Britannica
8- Former referee: “90% of LaLiga referees support Real Madrid” – ESPN
9- A former referee: “90% of LaLiga referees support Real Madrid” – Football Espana
10- Iker Casillas accuses Barcelona of committing “one of the biggest thefts in football” in the wake of the scandal over payments to the vice-president of the refereeing committee – Goal
11- Refuting arbitral myths: How many decisions does the referee get right?
Sky Sports
12- Manchester United 2-0 Arsenal;
Revisiting the Pizzagate after 10 years - BBC
13- Manchester United against Arsenal in 2004.. Was the video assistant referee saving the unbeaten team?
Sky Sports
14- Fabregas reveals the truth about the famous pizza incident – All Football
15- The 10 worst refereeing scandals in football history - Football Daily
16- La Liga President Javier Tebas calls on Laporta to step down from the Barcelona presidency in the wake of the financial payments scandal to the vice-chairman of the Referees Committee – Goal