FC Barcelona: UEFA opens an investigation into the "Negreira case"

"In accordance with Article 31(4) of the UEFA Disciplinary Regulations, UEFA Ethics and Disciplinary Inspectors have today been appointed to conduct an investigation regarding a potential violation of UEFA's legal framework by FC Barcelona (LaLiga Santander) in connection with the so-called 'Caso Negreira'," announced the European body on 23/03/2023.

The decision, UEFA's first regarding charges against FC Barcelona, comes as the Spanish public prosecutor's office announced it was prosecuting former executives of the Catalan club, including former presidents Josep Maria Bartomeu (2014-20) and Sandro Rosell (2010-2014), for "sporting corruption, breach of trust and forgery" on 10/03/2023, before the case was handed over to the anti-corruption department of the public prosecutor's office on 14/03/2023. This procedure was motivated by payments made by the club - almost €7m between 2001 and 2018 - to the company DASNIL 95 SL, owned by José Maria Enríquez Negreira, who was vice-president of the Spanish Technical Arbitration Committee (CTA) at the time.

Following their investigation, UEFA…