European football’s governing body, UEFA, on Thursday launched an investigation into Barcelona’s claims of paying for good refereeing decisions.
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UEFA said ethics and disciplinary inspectors would investigate “potential violations of UEFA’s legal framework by FC Barcelona in relation to the so-called ‘Caso Negreira'”, referring to the Spanish league’s former head of referees Jose Maria Enriquez Negreira.
Barcelona have been charged with corruption by Spanish prosecutors over payments between 2001 and 2018 to a company owned by Negreira, totaling around 7.3 million euros ($7.95 million).
The club said it paid for reports and advice on referees, but prosecutors accused the club of seeking favorable decisions from officials.
Charges were filed earlier this month against the club, Negreira and two former Barcelona presidents, Sandro Rosell and Josep Maria Bartomeu, among others.
Negreira, a former referee, was vice-president of the Spanish football federation’s referee committee between 1994 and 2018.
The investigation began after the Spanish tax authorities identified irregularities in tax payments made between 2016 and 2018 by the company Dasnil 95, owned by Negreira.
Dasnil 95 reportedly received payments from Barcelona in between those years.
The last invoice was issued in June 2018. After that the referee committee was restructured and Negreira left the organization.
Joan Laporta, the current president of Barcelona, insists that the club is innocent.
“Let’s be clear that Barca have never bought referees and Barca have never had any intention of buying referees, absolutely never,” he said.
La Liga president Javier Tebas previously said Barcelona were not in immediate danger because Spanish, European and world football’s governing bodies all have a five-year limit.
At the criminal level, the accused could face up to four years in prison.
The case has fueled tensions between Barcelona and old rivals Real Madrid, with the latter’s president, Florentino Perez, not traveling to Camp Nou for last weekend’s Clasico, which the Catalans won.
Real Madrid has confirmed it will appear in the case as an “injured party” to defend its interests.
The relationship between the two rival clubs seems to be improving, as they want to launch the European Super League project in 2021 and stick to the idea.