After being accused of bribing referees, BARCELONA can be expelled from the Champions League.
SunSport reported in March that if the Catalan giants are found guilty, they risk being kicked out of Europe’s top league.
Barcelona has reportedly been accused of bribery by judge Joaquin Aguirre, according to the Spanish publication El Debate.
Jose Maria Enruquez Negreira, a former vice president of the Technical Committee of Referees, received payments totaling £6 million.
The former presidents of Barcelona, Maria Bartomeu and Sandro Rosell, as well as Negreira and his son Javier Enriquez Romero, have all been prosecuted.
The La Liga champions are accused of violating a regulation that forbids public servants from accepting compensation for their work.
According to the Supreme Court, Negreira was an individual acting in a public capacity.
According to the claims, Josep Contreras, an ex-director of Barcelona, set up a shell business through which Negreira was allegedly handed money.
Additionally, it is claimed that Contreras received a 50% commission from this deal.
Additionally, former referee Alberto Gimenez claims Negreira called him a “chicken” at a “secret match-fixing meeting” and that Gimenez was the target of the accusation.
Negreira put pressure on me, he said to RadioMarca. He approached me when I was with other referees and warned me, “Hey chicken, watch what you say on television.” You already comprehend who I am. Take care.
It is possible to fix matches using a formula. I’m a friend of “such and such” who will back you; you give me a lot; and I’ll fix it for you. This is a fool’s trap.”The money is returned if the outcome is bad. He is permanently marked if he prevails. He has another chance if he loses and returns the money. Javier Tebas, the president of La Liga, earlier urged Laporta, the president of Barca, to provide an explanation.
The club’s vice president, Rafael Yuste, then asserted that an investigation had already been launched after hiring a law firm. The payments to Negreira’s Dasnil firm, according to Yuste, ceased in 2018.
A Champions League ban is one of Barcelona’s possible punishments.The Spanish team hasn’t won the competition since 2015, and in each of the last two seasons, they were ousted in the group stage.