Court documents indicate that, Barcelona paid €7.3m (£6.5m) to the company of Jose Mara Enriquez Negreira, the former vice-president of Spanish football’s refereeing committee, from 2001 to 2018.
UEFA’s investigation could result in a Champions League ban.
Because of payments of millions of euros to a company linked to a Spanish refereeing official, Barcelona is facing a new legal threat from UEFA, including a possible Champions League ban.
On Thursday, the European Union’s governing body requested an investigation into the matter, which is already being investigated by Spanish prosecutors.
Since April 2007, Champions League regulations have allowed UEFA to ban teams from the competition for one season if they were involved in match fixing.
UEFA said on Thursday it asked disciplinary inspectors to “conduct an investigation regarding a potential violation of UEFA’s legal framework by FC Barcelona in connection with the so-called Caso Negreira.”
Court documents show Barcelona paid €7.3m (£6.5m) from 2001 until 2018 to the company of Jose Mara Enriquez Negreira, the former vice-president of Spanish football’s refereeing committee.
Prosecutors in Spain have formally accused Barcelona of corruption in sports, fraudulent management and falsification of business documents.
An investigating judge will decide if this will lead to charges.
No evidence has yet been published that referees or individual games were actually influenced.