• Football
  • Boxing
  • UFC
  • Home
  • Football
    • England
    • Transfer News
    • Premier League
    • Champions League
    • Lionel Messi
    • Cristiano Ronaldo
    • EA FC 25
    • Wrexham
  • Boxing
    • Tyson Fury
    • Anthony Joshua
    • Oleksandr Usyk
    • Mike Tyson
    • Jake Paul
    • Logan Paul
  • UFC
    • Dana White
    • Conor McGregor
    • Khabib Nurmagomedov
    • Jon Jones
    • Paddy Pimblett
    • Joe Rogan
  • Other Sport
    • Athletics
    • Formula 1
    • MMA
    • Motorsport
    • NBA
    • Darts
    • NFL
    • Snooker
    • Wrestling
    • Tennis
    • Cricket
    • Golf
  • Advertise
  • Terms
  • Privacy & Cookies
  • LADbible Group
  • LADbible
  • UNILAD
  • GAMINGbible
  • Tyla
  • UNILAD Tech
  • FOODbible
  • License Our Content
  • About Us & Contact
  • Jobs
  • Latest
  • Topics A-Z
  • Authors
Facebook
Instagram
X
Threads
Snapchat
TikTok
YouTube
Barcelona 'could be banned from Champions League' after being 'charged with suspected bribery'

Home> Football> La Liga> FC Barcelona

Updated 14:58 28 Sep 2023 GMT+1Published 12:07 28 Sep 2023 GMT+1

Barcelona 'could be banned from Champions League' after being 'charged with suspected bribery'

Barca are facing a potential ban.

Ryan Smart

Ryan Smart

Featured Image Credit: Getty

Topics: Barcelona, Champions League, Joan Laporta, La Liga, UEFA, Football

Ryan Smart
Ryan Smart

Live in constant hope of the top flight as a Preston North End fan. Written in the past for SPORF, GiveMeSport and more.

Advert

Advert

Advert

A Spanish judge has reportedly charged Barcelona with 'suspected bribery' - and the club could be banned from the Champions League if found guilty.

The Catalan club have been charged with suspected bribery by Judge Joaquin Aguirre, as per Spanish outlet El Debate, over payments made to the former vice-president of the Technical Committee of Referees (CTA), Jose Maria Enriquez Negreira, over a 17-year period.

Barcelona are alleged to have paid €7.5 million (€7.9 million) to companies owned by Negreira between 2001 and 2018, including during current chief Joan Laporta's first spell as president.

Advert

Barcelona and Laporta have both denied any wrongdoing in the case.

In February, Barca said, as per Reuters, they had paid an external consultant who supplied them with 'technical reports related to professional refereeing', claiming this was a common practice among professional clubs.

In a press conference earlier this year, Laporta called the case a 'gigantic reputational discrediting campaign' against Barca due to 'defamatory insinuations'.

He accused those involved of 'wanting to destroy one of the emblems of Catalonia such as FC Barcelona' and believed that 'Barca would not come out of this harmed'.

Advert

Laporta previously said that the payments were for 'technical reports on refereeing' and nothing else.

El Debate also add that former Barca presidents Josep Maria Bartomeu and Sandro Rosell, as well as Negreira and his son Javier Enriquez Romero, have also been charged in the case.

Barcelona were charged with 'continued corruption between individuals in the sports field' by the Barcelona provincial prosecutor's office in March.

A statement from prosecutors accused Rosell and Bartomeu of having a 'strictly confidential verbal agreement' with Negreira so 'he would carry out actions aimed at favouring Barcelona in the decision making of the referees in the matches played by the club, and thus in the results of the competitions'.

Advert

UEFA conducted its own investigation into the Spanish giants after they were charged in March, as per Forbes, with Spanish outlet Marca carrying the key points of their subsequent findings.

In July, UEFA confirmed that 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 that, 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.

Advert

In a statement to SPORTbible, Barcelona said: "The FCB lawyers already considered the hypothesis that now has been reflected in the court order and have been working since the beginning on all aspects related to this motive."

SPORTbible has attempted to contact Josep Maria Bartomeu for comment. Reuters was unable to reach Negreira for comment.

Choose your content:

3 hours ago
4 hours ago
5 hours ago
6 hours ago
  • 3 hours ago

    Erik ten Hag suffers humiliating defeat in first Bayer Leverkusen game and everyone is saying the same thing

    Erik ten Hag got off to the worst possible start at Bayer Leverkusen when they faced Flamengo's Under 20 side in Rio de Janeiro.

    Football
  • 4 hours ago

    Arsenal accidentally leak new signing that nobody knew about after announcing Noni Madueke

    Arsenal announced the signing of Noni Madueke but accidentally leaked another addition to Mikel Arteta's squad.

    Football
  • 5 hours ago

    Alexander Isak gives 'green light' for staggering transfer as agent 'begins talks' with shock club

    Alexander Isak's agent is in talks over a shock move away from Newcastle United.

    Football
  • 6 hours ago

    Manchester City plotting shock move for England star as Fabrizio Romano drops bombshell on transfer

    Word on Manchester City's potential sixth signing of the summer has emerged courtesy of Fabrizio Romano.

    Football
  • Why Robert Lewandowski follows a 'backwards eating diet' that sees him eat dessert first
  • Barcelona could face Champions League ban as corruption investigation rumbles on
  • Barcelona would consider playing in Asian Champions League if banned from Europe
  • Expert warns Barcelona could get RELEGATED from La Liga if found guilty of corruption charges