Barcelona set to be charged by Prosecutor's Office for 'continuos corruption' following their payments to former referee - Reports

According to El Pais, Barcelona are set to be charged by Spanish prosecutors for 'continuous corruption'. The Blaugrana have been found guilty of paying former vice-president of the Technical Committee of referees, Jose Maria Enriquez Negreira.

Previously, the Blaugrana were accused of paying €1.6 million to Negreira. The recent report from El Pais suggests that Barcelona paid almost €7 million to referees between 2001 and 2021.

Investigations monitored withdrawals made by Negreira from various banks. Negreira has said that he was paid by Barcelona and was asked that neutral referees should be allotted their games. The Spanish giants also asked for no decisions to be made against them during games.

🚨🚨| The Prosecutor's Office is charging FC Barcelona with "continuous corruption" for their payments to referees VP Negreira and the club will be prosecuted. @el_pais #rmalive

Barcelona, though, have previously released a statement on the matter, claiming their innocence. It read (via GOAL):

"That in the past FC Barcelona hired the services of an external consultant that supplied the club's technical secretaries with reports in video format of youth players from other clubs in Spain."

It continued:

"Additionally, the relationship with that supplier extended to technical reports related to professional refereeing in order to complement the information requested by the first and second team coaching staff. This a common practice among professional football clubs."

It continued:

"These kinds of outsourced services are now the duty of a professional who works for the Football Department. FC Barcelona are sorry that this information has been released precisely when the team has hit its best form of the season. FC Barcelona shall be taking legal actions against those who are trying to tarnish the club's image with possible insinuations against its good reputation."

It will be interesting to see how the matter unfolds in the next few days..

Barcelona in pole position to win La Liga

Barcelona are leading defending champions Real Madrid by a massive margin of nine points atop the La Liga table. The Blaugrana have 62 points from 25 games.

Xavi's team earned a 2-1 home win against Valencia last weekend. Real Madrid, meanwhile, were held by Real Betis.

Barça president Laporta: “I think we’ve to extend Xavi Hernández’s contract, he deserves a new long term deal” 🔵🔴🤝🏻 #FCB

“Xavi says that he wants to win La Liga before new deal, but I’m already thinking of that — same for Busquets”, he says via @VMalo8. https://t.co/18IVaKU5TM

The Blaugrana return to action on March 12 against Athletic Bilbao at San Mames.