Barcelona Investigated by UEFA Over Referee Chief Payments

European football’s governing body, UEFA, announced that they will investigate Spanish club Barcelona over payments made to the former vice president of LaLiga’s referee governing body, Enriquez Negreira.

UEFA considers that there are sufficient grounds for a potential violation of their regulations by Barcelona. Therefore, they consider that there is a case and proceed to open a file to carry out an investigation into the Negreira case.

In accordance with Article 31(4) of the UEFA Disciplinary Regulations, inspectors have been appointed to carry out an investigation into a potential violation of UEFA’s legal framework by Barcelona in connection with the so-called ‘Negreira Case’. Barcelona is currently facing legal proceedings in Spain concerning payments made to the Spanish referee’s company over the course of several years that totaling more than €7 million.

LaLiga already said that it would not bring any sporting sanctions on the club as a result of the payments, but UEFA have now decided to conduct their own investigations to find out if Barcelona are in breach of any of its rules concerning ethics towards referees.

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