Barcelona have no case to answer in referee payment scandal, insists club president
Barcelona president Joan Laporta has protested the club's innocence amid the referee payment scandal surrounding them.
Back in February, it emerged that between 2001 and 2018, Barca made 33 payments totalling €7.3 million to a company owned by the former vice-president of Spanish football's refereeing committee, Jose Mara Enriquez Negreira; Barca claim that they received referee scouting reports in return.
Following the revelation, the La Liga giants were formally accused by prosecutors in Spain of corruption in sports, fraudulent management and falsification of business records.
No charges have yet been brought against Barca, but the Spanish authorities and UEFA are continuing their investigations.
A Champions League ban is among the potential sanctions the Blaugrana could face if they are found guilty of any wrongdoing.
Laporta doesn't seem remotely worried, though. Addressing a supporters group on Sunday, he defiantly said:
"They have nothing because there is nothing. Here, what they have done is magnify a situation in which one of the people who was linked to these companies was a former referee and a former vice-president of the Technical Committee of Referees. [Negreira] had no capacity to alter the results of any match because he did not designate the referees."
On the pitch, Barcelona are closing in on their first La Liga title in three years: Xavi's side lead arch-rivals Real Madrid by 11 points with nine games of the campaign remaining.
