UEFA to investigate Barcelona for its referee payments

GENEVA: Barcelona are facing a new legal threat from UEFA, including a possible Champions League ban, because of their payments of millions of dollars to a company linked to a Spanish refereeing official. The European soccer body asked Thursday for an investigation into the matter, which is already being pursued by prosecutors in Spain. Champions League regulations in effect since April 2007 allow for clubs to be removed from European competitions if they were involved in fixing matches.

Further disciplinary sanctions can follow. UEFA said Thursday it asked disciplinary inspectors to “conduct an investigation regarding a potential violation of UEFA’s legal framework by FC Barcelona in connection with the so-called ‘Caso Negreira.’” Court documents show Barcelona paid 7.3 million euros ($7.7 million) from 2001-18 to the company of José María Enríquez Negreira, the former vice president of Spanish soccer’s refereeing committee. Prosecutors in Spain have formally accused Barcelona of corruption in sports, fraudulent management and falsification of business documents.

An investigating judge will decide if this will lead to charges. No evidence has yet been published that referees or individual games were actually influenced. Barcelona have consistently denied any wrongdoing or conflict of interest, saying they paid for technical reports on referees but never tried to influence their decisions in games.