Scandal in Barcelona: Former presidents accused of corruption, the club could be kicked out of Europe

The prosecutor's office in Barcelona filed an indictment against the Barcelona football club and its former presidents Sandro Rosell and Josep Maria Bartomeu, who are suspected of corruption.

They are suspected of paying a total of 2001 million euros from 2018 to 8,4 to José María Enriquez Negreira, the former vice president of the Spanish Judicial Commission, and his company. Negreira delegated the referees who correspond to Barcelona and guaranteed that they would referee for her.

At the first hearing in Barcelona, ​​the club of the same name was charged by the state prosecutor's office with "corruption, falsification of official documents and breach of trust".

"Barcelona achieved and maintained a strictly confidential verbal agreement with Negreira, according to which he acted as vice president of the Spanish referee commission in exchange for money so that Barcelona had a privileged status with the judges," the prosecution said.

Although during the period in which Barcelona is accused of paying judges, its president in the first term (2003-2010) was the incumbent Joan Laporta, he is not suspected of crime. Despite this, Javier Tebas, the first man of La Liga, declared that Laporta must resign. The only condition under which he can remain president of Barcelona, ​​Tebas added, is to tell everything he knows about the bribery of judges within the specified time.

All the Spanish media write that the seriousness of the offense for which Barcelona is accused and the fact that it is under indictment seriously jeopardizes its playing in Europe next season. Even without waiting for a verdict, UEFA can assess that the reputation of its competitions would be seriously damaged by the mere presence of a club accused of crime. UEFA has the right to ban such clubs from participating in European Cups, even though they have achieved the right to participate.

By the way, UEFA asked Barcelona to explain the situation a few days ago, but at that time the affair was "only" under investigation. The fact that it was turned into an indictment caused an uproar both in Nyon and at Camp Nou.