Barcelona Referee Scandal: UEFA decided to start their own investigation into the ‘Negreira Scandal’. There was a chance that if the allegations against Barcelona were proven, they would receive a ban from European football for at least a year. However, no solid proof has been found yet that the transferred money influenced any referee-related decisions. Hence, as per reports, Barcelona will be granted their next year’s Champions League license before May 15. Follow Champions League LIVE Updates on InsideSport.IN.
Since the ‘Negreira Scandal’ surfaced a few weeks ago, it caught the attention of La Liga authority, rival clubs, and UEFA authority as well. Several rival clubs including their arch-rivals Real Madrid wanted the authorities to take action against La Blaugrana. UEFA got involved after that. UEFA said they would conduct their own investigations into the case. Then, if deemed necessary they will decide on a punishment.
Recently, Santi Nolla who is the editor-in-chief of Mundo Deportivo, a sports newspaper based out of Barcelona reported on the matter. Over £6.5 million was transferred from Barcelona to a company owned by Jose Maria Enriquez Negreira. He is also Spain’s Referee Committee’s Vice President. However, Nolla said no proof has been found that the money influenced any decisions involving the referees that officiated Barcelona’s matches.
🚨🚨✅| BREAKING: FC Barcelona will NOT be removed from the Champions League by UEFA because of the ‘Negreira case’ — the club WILL be in the competition next season.@SantiNollaMD [🎖️] pic.twitter.com/oHBljFmR7M
— Managing Barça (@ManagingBarca) April 28, 2023
He said that to prove Barcelona’s guilt, there needs to be proof that the money was used to buy off referees, or that was the intention. Only the possibility of Barcelona’s wrongdoings is not enough to consider them guilty. Hence, UEFA does not consider it reason enough to ban Barcelona from next year’s Champions League. As a result, they will receive the license for Champions League 2023-24 before May 15.
Apparently, UEFA were surprised at how rapidly the ‘Negreira Scandal’ caught the wind and spread like wildfire. Especially regarding the fact that Enriquez Negreira might be the Vice President of Spain’s Technical Committee of Referees. However, he neither had the power over the appointment of the referees nor the decisions they made on the pitch. Hence, the accusations made little to no sense.
Apparently, Barcelona President Joan Laporta’s efforts made it possible to prove the club’s innocence. He sent letters to both presidents of FIFA and UEFA. There, he asked them to not jump to any conclusions before all the details regarding the case are found out. He then addressed all the La Liga club presidents in Madrid at the La Liga Assembly.
He ultimately flew out to meet with Aleksander Ceferin, the UEFA President in person to explain the entire situation. This might have helped Barcelona get ahead of the accusations. Barcelona is already 11 points ahead of second-placed Real Madrid in La Liga. Hence, they will be qualified to play in next year’s Champions League. The ‘Negreira Scandal’ will not affect anything regarding the matter.
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