Wednesday briefing: Negreira case: Civil Guard concludes FC Barcelona paid ex-refereeing official for ‘phantom reports’

The case involving FC Barcelona’s €7.3 million payments to a former refereeing official could be about to take a hugely significant turn after the Spanish Civil Guard concluded that the technical advice described by the club has never been discovered.

Barcelona have repeatedly claimed they paid an external consultant for “technical reports related to professional refereeing”, which they said was common practice among professional clubs.

However, El Mundo has reported that the Civi