Spanish police have raided the referee’s committee as part of an investigation into corruption and match fixing. Barcelona are facing charges of corruption over payments made to Jose Maria Enriquez Negreira, a former vice-president of the Spanish referees’ committee, over a 17-year period.
UEFA is also apart of the investigation which has been going since March when the initial enquiry over criminal charges was made by Barcelona public prosecutor’s office. UEFA followed on from that and began their own investigation. In July, UEFA cleared Barcelona of playing in the Champions League this season whilst the investigation was ongoing. Barcelona and Joan Laporta have denied all the charges.
UEFA confirmed the club was ‘provisionally admitted to participate in the 2023/24 UEFA club competitions’, but added: “A future decision on admission/exclusion from UEFA club competitions is reserved.”
They also confirmed: “The EDIs in charge of the case are invited to continue and complete their investigation and send a new report to the UEFA Appeal Body if and when they consider that the admission/exclusion of FC Barcelona should be evaluated.”
That confirmation suggests, should Barcelona be found guilty of bribery, UEFA may revisit their decision to allow the club to compete in its competitions, including the Champions League, moving forward.
A raid begun after a judge demanded documentation from the CTA. This was never sent and a raid from the Spanish police was allowed.
It is alleged that Barcelona paid €8.4 million (£7.4 m) to companies owned by Negreira (Dansil 95 company) between 2001 and 2018, including during current chief Laporta’s first spell as president.
Barcelona made payments to the company totalling a reported €1.4m (£1.2m) between 2016 and 2018, and paid Negreira about €7m (£6.2m) between 2001 and 2018, the year he left his role with the referees’ committee.
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