Barcelona face possible points deduction following £1.3m referee payment allegations

Barcelona are facing a potential points deduction after allegedly paying £1.3 million to a RFEF official during Josep Bartomeu’s reign, reports Forbes.

Spanish outlet Cadena SER claim Barca paid a company owned by Jose Maria Enriquez Negreira.

He was the vice president of the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) Referees Committee from 1994 until 2018.

The La Liga club are now under investigation and could face some harsh punishments.

Catalan police, Mossos, recently concluded that Bartomeu paid journalists through third-party companies.

They claim the ex-Barca president did so to improve the club’s image on social media. A smear campaign was also launched against some of their players at the time.

The accusation of bribing officials is the latest scandal to hit Barca. Barcagate saw several board members arrested as part of a police investigation.

The club could be in hot water if found guilty of the latest accusations.

Barca allegedly paid DASNIL 95 SL – Negreira’s company – £1,236,820 between 2016 and 2018. They stopped payments in June 2018, when Negreira left the Referees Committee.

The Prosecutor’s Office has begun investigations, and Negreira denied favouring Barcelona in any refereeing decisions.

However, he claims he offered them advice on how their players should behave in front of referees for a fee.

Negreira also admitted to giving them tips on what they can or cannot do, depending on which official was in charge of a particular game.

He has failed to produce documents proving he offered the aforementioned services for Barca.

As expected, the Camp Nou club have released an official statement. The Catalans admit that the services of an ‘external technical consultant’ were hired.

However, they deny any wrongdoing and have vowed to take legal action against those trying to tarnish their image.