The Catalans made suspicious payments to a ref-owned company.
Barcelona paid a company owned by a former vice president of the Technical Committee of Referees between 2016 and 2018. According to El Mundo, the Spanish club made 33 separate payments of around €1.6 million.
La Liga’s statute of limitations means Barcelona will not face sporting sanctions. However, the club could still face criminal punishment. La Liga president, Javier Tebas, criticized Barcelona and suggested criminal charges.
Tebas said, “It’s clear that these services should never have been provided. It won’t be possible to impose disciplinary sanctions on Barcelona.” He added, “On a sporting level, it isn’t possible, but individuals may have committed a match-fixing crime.”
Barcelona maintains that they made payments for scouting reports on referees. The payments have raised questions about the club’s sporting integrity. La Liga cannot investigate further due to the expired statute of limitations.
Barca will not face any sporting sanctions due to the statute of limitations. The payments were made to a former referee committee official, and a criminal investigation is still possible. The investigation will shed more light on the issue.
Earlier this week, Barcelona president Joan Laporta appeared to accuse Barcelona’s La Liga rivals of pushing the investigations. The Catalans lead the La Liga table with an eight-point clearance over their arch-rivals, Real Madrid.
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