Barcelona under investigation for suspected bribery in refereeing case - court

MADRID : Spanish soccer club Barcelona are under formal investigation for suspected bribery in a probe spanning two decades of activities at the country's refereeing committee, according to a court document seen by Reuters on Thursday.

Investigating judge Joaquin Aguirre Lopez said earlier in September that Barcelona may have benefited from "possible systemic corruption". In a statement in February, Barcelona denied any wrongdoing.

In March, prosecutors filed a complaint over alleged payments of more than 7.3 million euros ($7.8 million) over 17 years to firms owned by Jose Maria Enriquez Negreira, who was vice-president of the football federation's refereeing committee (CTA) from 1993 to 2018.