Barcelona granted license to participate in UCL next season despite ongoing investigations into Negreira case - Reports
Barcelona, who are on course to win La Liga this season, have been granted the permission to participate in the UEFA Champions League next campaign. A five-member UEFA committee granted the Blaugrana the license to do so.
After examining Barca's documents, UEFA decided to hand the club the license on May 9. However, the Blaugrana remain under investigation at the moment for the Negreira case.
Barcelona are facing charges of corruption over alleged payments of €7.3 million (£6.4 million) made to Spanish referee Jose Negreira between 2001 and 2018 (as per Sky Sports).
In case, they're found guilty and a ban is imposed on them, their license to participate in the Champions League will be revoked. Blaugrana officials previously met UEFA president Aleksandr Ceferin in Slovenia on April 20 to have a discussion regarding the issue (according to Mundo Deportivo).
La Liga president Javier Tebas on Barcelona's plans to bring Lionel Messi back to Camp Nou
Lionel Messi, in the final months of his Paris Saint-Germain contract, has been heavily linked with a return to Barcelona in the summer. The Blaugrana, though, need to free up €200 million from their wage bill to register new players.
La Liga president Javier Tebas recently spoke about Messi's potential return to Barca.
Sergio Busquets announced that he would leave the club at the end of the season. The veteran midfielder's exit would give the Blaugrana some financial room to work out a deal for Messi. While Tebas acknowledged that Busquets' exit would help in Messi's pursuit, he said that the club still have a lot of work left to do.
Speaking to COPE, Tebas said:
“The start of Busquets is the beginning of the road for Messi to return, but to reach the end, they still have to walk many meters."
Barca have already submitted their financial feasibility plan to La Liga last month. Tebas, though, said that it's not his responsibility to approve those plans:
“I do not give the ok to the feasibility plans; it's the economic control. I know that they are talking, explaining things, because it is a club with a budget of more than eight hundred million euros and very high expenses.”
While Messi returning would be a dream scenario for the club and its fans, Barca need to sort their financial situation out to explore a potential deal.