FC Barcelona Charged With Bribery For Referee Payments, Face Champions League Exclusion: Reports

FC Barcelona have been charged with bribery for payments made to the former vice-president of the Technical Committee of Referees (CTA) – Jose Maria Enriquez Negreira – over a 17-year period according to El Debate, in developments that could eventually result in the club being banned from the Champions League.

Barca paid €7.5 million ($7.9 million) to companies owned by Negreira from 2001 to 2018. This takes in current president Joan Laporta’s first reign as the club’s leader, but Laporta has claimed on numerous occasions that the payments were honestly for consultation work.