Barcelona are facing a new legal threat from UEFA, including a possible ban from the Champions League over allegations that the club paid millions of euros to a company linked to a Spanish referee.
The European governing body asked on Thursday for an investigation into case, which is already set in motion by prosecutors in Spain.
UEFA disciplinary inspectors will “investigate a potential violation of UEFA’s legal framework by FC Barcelona in connection with the so-called Caso Negreira.”
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Court documents show Barcelona paid €7.3m (£6.5m) from 2001 until 2018 to the company of Jose Mara Enriquez Negreira, the former vice-president of Spanish football’s refereeing committee.
Prosecutors in Spain have already accused Barcelona of corruption in sports, fraudulent management, and falsification of business documents.
An investigating judge will decide if there will be any charges against Barcelona.
No evidence has yet been published that referees or individual games were influenced.
Barcelona has being denying the issues of any wrongdoing or conflict of interest, saying they laid for technical reports on referees but never tried to influence their decisions in games.
Any proof of manipulated games in the past 16 years could see UEFA banning Barcelona from its competitions for one year and prosecuting a disciplinary case.
Barcelona has a 12-point lead in La Liga and will almost certainly qualify for next season’s Champions League – a welcome boost after the club posted record losses last year.
