Barcelona is going through a brand new authorized menace from UEFA, together with a potential Champions League ban, due to its funds of hundreds of thousands of {dollars} to an organization linked to a Spanish refereeing official.
The European soccer physique requested 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 have been concerned in fixing matches.
UEFA stated Thursday it 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 7.3 million euros ($7.7 million) from 2001-18 to the corporate of José María Enríquez Negreira, the previous vp 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 decide will determine if this can result in costs.
No proof has but been revealed that referees or particular person video games have been truly influenced.
Barcelona has constantly denied any wrongdoing or battle of curiosity, saying it paid for technical experiences on referees however by no means tried to affect their choices in video games.
Any proof of manipulated video games prior to now 16 years may see UEFA exclude Barcelona from its competitions for one 12 months and prosecute a disciplinary case.
Barcelona has a 12-point lead within the Spanish league and is nearly sure to qualify for subsequent season’s Champions League — an entry that will pay tens of hundreds of thousands of {dollars} to a membership that posted file losses final 12 months.