Barcelona UEFA Ban: Barcelona, despite winning La Liga, may be on the verge of being disqualified from the Champions League and all UEFA tournaments. Two UEFA-appointed investigators have determined that FC Barcelona should be barred from the Champions League for the upcoming season due to their involvement in the “Negreira Scandal referee payment controversy. Follow La Liga Live Updates on InsideSport.IN
In March, the Catalans were accused of “continued corruption between individuals in the sports field” by the regional prosecutor’s office in Barcelona. They paid Jose Maria Enrique Negreira, the former vice president of the Technical Committee of Referees, according to information that was made public.
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From 2001 to 2018, the La Liga champions gave Negreira a total sum of close to €7 million ($7.5 million). This time span includes the first term of the current president, Joan Laporta, from 2003 to 2010. Laporta, though, has vehemently denied all wrongdoing and maintains that the payments were made for legitimate consulting work.
The European Football Association (UEFA), which oversees football in Europe, announced the beginning of its own inquiry in the same month that Barca was penalised due to a “potential violation” of UEFA rules. A judgement from UEFA was reportedly “imminent” over the weekend, with one of three possible results being a temporary ban from the Champions League.
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Barcelona used a number of “financial levers” in a last-ditch effort to buy the players they needed to contend for European trophies and guarantee their continued participation in the Champions League in following seasons.
They succeeded in fulfilling the second half of it as they finished the season as the league’s champions, lying 11 points ahead of Real Madrid, their nearest challenger.
However, their foray into Europe ended in failure again, as they lost to Manchester United in the Europa League play-off stage after placing third in their group behind Bayern Munich and Inter Milan.
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Currently, UEFA representatives Jean Samuel Leuba and Mirjam Koller are merely advocating for a one-year exclusion of the club from tournaments.
A fixed amount of about €50 million, plus any additional money for how far they advance in the competition, would be lost if the team missed out on playing in Europe. This might have a significant influence on how much money they can spend now or in the future, particularly if they want to re-sign Lionel Messi.
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