UEFA announced on Thursday the opening of an investigation into a "possible violation of the legal framework" of the body by FC Barcelona in connection with the arbitration scandal involving the Catalan club. Some of its leaders were indicted on 10 March by the Spanish courts for "bribery", "breach of trust" and "forgery of commercial documents" in the case of suspicious payments to Jose Maria Enriquez Negreira, former senior official of the Spanish arbitration, also prosecuted.
No Champions League next season?
The case is logically traced back to UEFA, as already indicated Wednesday the media El Confidencial. The European body took up the case at the end of February, after requesting and obtaining information from the Spanish Federation (RFEF).
Barça risks big. While it is very well on its way to being crowned champion of Spain at the end of the season (12 points ahead of Real Madrid), the Catalan club could be deprived of European competition next season, according to El Confidencial.
Barça, on the other hand, does not risk anything in Spain. The facts, more than five years old, are indeed considered time-barred, according to La Liga president Javier Tebas. On the criminal front, the leaders involved face sentences of six months to four years in prison. According to the Barcelona prosecutor's office, the club paid a total of more than 7.3 million euros to José Maria Enriquez Negreira, former referee and former vice president of the technical refereeing committee of the Spanish Football Federation between 1994 and 2018.
- Football
- FC Barcelona
- Arbitration
- Champions League
- UEFA
- Sport