Officially.. European investigation opened against Barcelona over refereeing scandal

UEFA announced today in an official statement the opening of an investigation into a "possible violation of the legal framework" against FC Barcelona in connection with the refereeing scandal, according to the Confederation of the game.

Barcelona and some of its leaders were charged on March 10 by Spanish authorities with "corruption", "breach of trust" and "fake business records", in a case of suspicious payments to José María Enriquez Negrera, a former senior official of Spanish arbitration who is also being prosecuted.

The Spanish judiciary accuses Barcelona, two former presidents and former referee Jose Maria Enriquez Negreira of "corruption", "dishonesty" and "falsification of commercial records" in the case of suspicious payments of more than 7 million euros from the Catalan club to Negreira, a Barcelona court said earlier. The prosecutions of the Barcelona prosecutor are targeting the club in its moral capacity as well as its former presidents Josep Bartomeu and Sandro Rosell.

The case concerns alleged payments made by Barcelona to Negrira, a former vice-president of the technical refereeing committee, to provide the club with oral advice and advice on matters related to referees. Oscar Grau and Albert Soler, two former members of Bartomeu's team, have also been charged.