UEFA have opened an investigation on Barcelona after being charged with a referee scandal and the UEFA president has called the offence one of the most serious in football.
La Liga President Javier Tebas has been asked to resign from his position after UEFA opened an investigation into Barcleona’s referee scandal. Aleksander Ceferin, the head of UEFA, declared on Monday that the Barcelona referee issue is one of the most serious incidents he has ever witnessed in sport
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The matter is also under investigation by Spanish authorities.
Barcelona former club presidents Sandro Rosell and Josep Maria Bartomeu have been charged with corruption in Spain for allegedly making payments to a company owned by Jose Maria Enriquez Negreira. Jose Maria Enriquez Negreira served as vice president of the referee committee from 1993 to 2018.
Barcelona investigated by UEFA
Negreira received well over €7 million in payments from Barcelona between 2001 and 2018 to sway game outcomes, according to the public prosecutor's office examining the allegation. If this information turns out to be accurate, it may rank among the club's most significant shocking incidents in football history.
Speaking in an interview, Ceferin said, "The situation is extremely serious. It is so serious that, in my opinion, it is one of the most serious [situations] in soccer that I have ever seen."
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"At the level of [La Liga], of course, the matter is time-barred and can have no competitive consequences, but the proceedings are ongoing at the level of prosecutors. But as far as UEFA is concerned, there is nothing time-barred."
Tebas told to resign
FC Barcelona have told Tebas to hand in his resignation. According to the Spanish publication La Vanguardia, Tebas allegedly sent a letter written by former Barcelona director Josep Contreras to the prosecutor which implicated Bartomeu and Rosell.
FC Barcelona responded via a statement, saying, "Given the gravity of the information that has appeared today Monday in La Vanguardia in which La Liga president Javier Tebas is linked to the presentation of false evidence to the public prosecutor to incriminate our club, FC Barcelona wishes to expresses its deepest indignation, anger and dismay.
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"For that reason, we urgently require the La Liga president to appear in public to explain himself, beyond the tweet sent in the early hours by Mr. Tebas, lacking substance and with a threatening tone.
"If only for this fact, that of giving himself powers that do not belong to him, although also for reasons of dignity and respect for the presidency of La Liga, Mr.Tebas should resign from his post. Nevertheless, aware of his obsession with persecuting FC Barcelona and showing his constant averse and manifest dislike of our Club, we understand that the current La Liga president will persist in his efforts to keep damaging our club."
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