UEFA will launch an investigation into a “possible breach” of its rules by FC Barcelona, which has been charged by a Spanish court with corruption involving the refereeing sector, European football’s governing body said on Thursday.
UEFA ethics and disciplinary inspectors were appointed this Thursday to investigate possible violations of UEFA regulations by Barcelona in connection with the so-called Negreira case.
The club, a prominent Spanish league leader, several former managers and former head of refereeing José Negreira, was charged on March 10 with corruption, breach of trust and falsifying commercial records in a case involving large payments to a former referee.
The Spanish Public Prosecutor’s Office filed a formal complaint with the Barcelona Guidance Court No. 1 against the club as a legal entity, as well as against its former presidents Sandro Rosell (between 2010 and 2014) and Josep Maria Bartomeu (between 2014 and 2020). ).
The current president of the Catalans, Joan Laporta, said that the accusations of corruption that are falling on the club will cause a strong response from the current management, saying that the Catalans are “victims” of the destabilization campaign.
The case follows investigations launched by the Barcelona prosecutor’s office about a year ago and which show that the former head of the Spanish arbitration received almost seven million euros through the company for alleged advice to the club, including in 2001 and 2018.
This case, in which the Catalan club has been consistently accused of business corruption, will be merged with another following a complaint filed in recent weeks by former referee and current video referee Estrada Fernández against Negreira and Dasnil 95, for sports corruption.
Alleged tax violations committed by Negreira’s company in May 2022 revealed payments received by the former Vice President of the Arbitrators’ Technical Commission.
According to the Spanish court, Barcelona “maintained a strictly confidential verbal agreement” with José Negreira, so that he “in exchange for money, took actions aimed at giving preference to Barcelona in the decisions of the referees” in their games.