FC Barcelona accused of corruption over ref committee payments

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Prosecutors have formally accused Barcelona of corruption because of its payments of millions of euros over several years to a company that belonged to the vice president of Spain's football refereeing committee.

The decision, made official on Friday, was reported this week by Spanish newspaper El País. An investigating judge will decide whether the accusations should lead to charges.

Barcelona, which denies wrongdoing, has been under scrutiny since the club's payments became public. The payments were initially investigated as part of a tax probe into the company.

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Prosecutors in Barcelona have issued three accusations which include alleged corruption in sports and fraudulent management. The other accusation related to the alleged falsification of mercantile documentation.

Spanish soccer has been rocked since it was revealed that Spain’s tax officials were probing Barcelona's payment of 1.4 million euros ($1.5 million) from 2016-18 to a company belonging to José María Enríquez Negreira, a former referee who was a part of the Spanish Football Federation refereeing committee from 1994 to 2018.

The prosecutors said in court documents seen by the Associated Press that the payments by the club actually reached 7.3 million euros ($7.7 million) from 2001-18. They added that this "quantity was not justified because it was not foreseen in the statutes of the club nor approved by its general assembly (of club members)."

That scenario would mean that Barcelona paid Enríquez Negreira’s company during different club presidents, including from 2003-10 under the first term of current