Barcelona are dealing with a brand new authorized risk from UEFA, together with a doable Champions League ban, due to the membership’s funds of tens of millions of {dollars} to an organization linked to a Spanish refereeing official.
The European soccer physique requested on Thursday for an investigation into the matter, which is already being pursued by prosecutors in Spain.
Champions League laws, in impact since April 2007, enable UEFA to ban groups from the competitors for one season in the event that they had been concerned in fixing matches.
UEFA stated it had requested disciplinary inspectors to “conduct an investigation relating to a possible violation of UEFA’s authorized framework by FC Barcelona in reference to the so-called ‘Caso Negreira.'”
Court docket paperwork present Barcelona paid 7.three million euros ($A11.eight million) from 2001-18 to the corporate of Jose Maria Enriquez Negreira, the previous vice-president of Spanish soccer’s refereeing committee.
Prosecutors in Spain have formally accused Barcelona of corruption in sports activities, fraudulent administration and falsification of enterprise paperwork. An investigating choose will resolve if this can result in expenses.
No proof has but been revealed that referees or particular person video games had been truly influenced.
Barcelona has persistently denied any wrongdoing or battle of curiosity, saying it paid for technical stories on referees however by no means tried to affect their choices in video games.
Any proof of manipulated video games previously 16 years may see UEFA exclude Barcelona from its competitions for one yr and prosecute a disciplinary case.
Barcelona have a 12-point lead within the Spanish league and are nearly sure to qualify for subsequent season’s Champions League — an entry that will pay tens of tens of millions of {dollars} to a membership that posted file losses final yr.
