Barcelona banned from champions

Reigning Spanish champions Barcelona should be banned from European competition for one season. This opinion was expressed by two inspectors of the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA), involved in the investigation of the scandal, referred to as the “Negreira case”. The point is that Barcelona for many years paid the former vice-president of the Spanish refereeing committee, José María Enriquez Negreira, for some services that could go beyond what was permitted. The final decision on Barcelona’s admission to the Champions League must be made by UEFA by June 12.

Spanish football club “Barcelona” is at risk of losing the right to play in the Champions League next season. According to the publication ABCtwo UEFA inspectors at once – Jean Samuel Leuba and Miriam Koller Trunz – came to the conclusion that the Catalans should be suspended from participating in European competition for a year.

UEFA must make a final decision in connection with the Negreira case by June 12. On this day, the final list of participants in the Champions League will be announced.

The recommendation to remove Barcelona was issued by UEFA inspectors after study circumstances of the Negreira case. We are talking about the former deputy head of the technical committee of referees of the Spanish Football Federation, Jose Maria Enriquez Negreira. How established Spanish prosecutor’s office, from 2001 to 2018 he received a total of about €7.8 million from Barcelona (the money was transferred to the accounts of companies controlled by Mr. Negreira and his son).

During this time, the presidents of the club changed several times, but payments to Mr. Negreira did not stop. They also paid him under the current president of Barcelona, ​​Joan Laporte. He held this post from 2003 to 2010, then gave it to Sandro Rossel, and in 2021 he returned to the post. According to Mr. Negreira, supported by Barcelona, ​​there was nothing reprehensible in the above payments. Allegedly, the funds were payment for some consulting services and the preparation of technical reports on refereeing.

Attempts by the Spanish La Liga to punish Barcelona did not work. As the president of La Liga Javier Tebas noted, the hands of the organization he leads are tied, since the statute of limitations set by its regulations has expired in cases similar to the history of Barcelona. But Mr. Tebas noted that UEFA is not bound by such a strict procedural framework, and expressed hope for his intervention, calling the “Negreira case” “the biggest problem in the history of Spanish football.”

Note that the UEFA regulations explicitly state: if the union comes to the conclusion that a particular club was directly or indirectly involved in any actions aimed at rigging or trying to influence the outcome of the match at the national or international level, then it is not allowed to participate in international competitions.

Arnold Kabanov