Barcelona could be prevented from competing in the Champions League due to corruption allegations
"Through presidents [Sandro] Rosell and [Josep Maria] Bartomeu, Barcelona reached and maintained a strictly confidential verbal agreement with the defendant Negreira, so that, in his capacity as vice-president of the refereeing committee and in exchange for money, he would carry out actions aimed at favouring Barcelona in the decision making of the referees in the matches played by the club, and thus in the results of the competitions," Spanish prosecutors said.
If Barcelona is found guilty of corruption and attempting to rig games, they risk being excluded from the UEFA Champions League.
In response to the Negreira scandal, Spanish prosecutors formally filed corruption accusations against Barcelona on Friday.
Although it had only been hinted at up until now that Barça had paid Jose Maria Enriquez Negreira, a former vice-president of Spain's referees' committee, for information and analysis on certain match officials, the accusations show that there was a purpose to obtain an unfair competitive edge in exchange for favourable judgements.
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"Through presidents [Sandro] Rosell and [Josep Maria] Bartomeu, Barcelona reached and maintained a strictly confidential verbal agreement with the defendant Negreira, so that, in his capacity as vice-president of the refereeing committee and in exchange for money, he would carry out actions aimed at favouring Barcelona in the decision making of the referees in the matches played by the club, and thus in the results of the competitions," Spanish prosecutors said.
Though La Liga president Javier Tebas has insisted Barcelona cannot be punished by the Spanish football system as the charges relate to activity from over three years ago, UEFA could still take action.
Marca report that Barça could be barred from entering the Champions League, Europa League and Conference League even before a verdict in the case due to potential damages to UEFA's reputation.
UEFA has the legal authority to disqualify teams from competitions based on past allegations of match-fixing that date back to 2007 - a significantly higher bar than La Liga.
Article 4.01, section G, of UEFA's Champions League regulations, reads: "To be eligible to participate in the competition, clubs must not have been directly and/or indirectly involved, since the entry into force of Article 50(3) of the UEFA Statutes, i.e. 27 April 2007, in any activity aimed at arranging or influencing the outcome of a match at national or international level and confirm this to the UEFA administration in writing."
Barcelona are almost certain to qualify for next season's Champions League via their La Liga finish, sitting nine points clear at the top of La Liga.
