The Spanish Prosecutor’s Office will accuse the Barcelona club of corruption due to the payments it made to the former vice president of the referees commission, according to the newspaper El País.
Prosecutors did not immediately confirm the allegations, noting that nothing has yet been filed. In its version, El País cited unidentified legal sources who are aware of the case.
Barcelona has been in the crosshairs since it was published that the Catalan club disbursed millionaire payments over the years to a company owned by the then vice-president of the federation’s committee of referees.
The payments, which so far have not been linked to any type of illegal or improper activity of the club, were initially investigated as part of an investigation of the company by the tax authorities.
Both the Spanish League and the federation are analyzing the case. Barcelona indicated that it hired an independent firm to carry out its own investigation.
The League assured that sanctioning Barcelona sportingly was not possible because the case had prescribed. Other Spanish clubs expressed their concern about the payments.
Barcelona has denied having committed a crime or a conflict of interest. He insists that he paid for technical reports on the referees, but never tried to influence their decisions in the matches.
The preparation of reports on referees is a common practice and the clubs commission them from other companies or prepare them on their own, as Barcelona currently does.
