Since mid-February, FC Barcelona has been targeted by accusations of “corruption”, “breach of trust” and “false commercial writing”. Several Hispanic media claimed that the Catalan club had paid six to seven million euros between 2001 and 2018 to Enriquez Negreira, former number two of the Iberian arbitration institution, when he was in office. A case that made the UEFA presidency react. FC Barcelona no longer risks anything with the Liga Nacional, since the facts date back more than three years, the deadline for opening an investigation. However, UEFA has decided to initiate proceedings in this matter, as it is entitled to do.
This Monday morning, the president of the European body, Aleksander Ceferin, declared to the Slovenian sports newspaper Ekipa24: “ From what I know, the situation is extremely serious. It is one of the most serious cases since I have been involved in football. “Barça therefore risks nothing in Spain but on the European scene, the club could be seriously penalized. According to the conclusions of the investigation, the Catalans are exposed to a ban from European competitions for several years, a threat that the UEFA president did not want to comment on.
Following the accusations in February, Joan Laporta, the president of FC Barcelona, does not deny these payments but defends himself by affirming that these sums were used to provide the club with advice on arbitration. Version that few formations in Spain want to believe. The subject will therefore probably be at the heart of the debates at the UEFA congress in Lisbon on Tuesday and Wednesday. A congress during which Ceferin, 55, the only candidate for his succession, will be re-elected for a third term.
For its part, the Catalan club counter-attacked by asking this Monday for the resignation of Javier Tebas, the president of La Liga, a few hours after the revelations of “La Vanguardia”. The Spanish media reports information that Tebas produced false evidence to the prosecution, evidence against Barca in the Negreira case.
Preceding Barca’s charge, Tebas, on his Twitter account, had incriminated Vanguardia and claimed not to have accused any particular club to the prosecutor.