Spanish soccer large Barcelona are beneath investigation for suspected “active bribery” as a part of a probe into suspected corruption spanning 20 years on the refereeing committee, based on a court docket doc seen by Reuters on Thursday.
Police additionally searched the places of work of the Spanish refereeing committee (CTA) contained in the soccer federation (RFEF) headquarters in Madrid on Thursday, the Barcelona court docket mentioned, as a part of the continuing inquiry into “possible systemic corruption” inside the CTA.
Spanish soccer and the RFEF specifically are going via a second of reckoning amid allegations of sexual abuse in opposition to former RFEF chief Luis Rubiales.
Rubiales kissed World Cup winner Jenni Hermoso on the lips on Aug. 20, setting off a furore that largely overshadowed each the ladies’s group triumph in Sydney and the refereeing scandal. Rubiales has since give up.
The refereeing investigation has now been widened to incorporate Barcelona as a suspect. Investigating choose Joaquin Aguirre Lopez mentioned earlier in September the membership could have benefited from graft.
In March, prosecutors filed a criticism over alleged funds of greater than 7.3 million euros ($7.8 million) over 17 years to corporations owned by Jose Maria Enriquez Negreira, who was vice-president of the RFEF’s refereeing committee from 1993 to 2018.
Reuters has been unable to succeed in Negreira. RFEF was not instantly accessible for remark.
A Barcelona supply instructed Reuters the membership won’t difficulty an official assertion, including its legal legal professionals “had already contemplated this hypothesis and … have been preparing for it from day one, working on all aspects related to this case.”
Barcelona supervisor Xavi, who performed for the aspect between 1998 and 2015, instructed reporters he had by no means felt referees favoring them.
“I have never, ever, had the sensation that the referees were ruling in our favor. Never, ever,” he instructed reporters.
La Liga champions Barcelona have denied any wrongdoing, saying in an announcement in February that the membership had paid an exterior advisor who equipped it with “technical reports related to professional refereeing,” which it mentioned was a standard follow amongst skilled soccer golf equipment.
Barcelona’s archrivals Real Madrid had joined the prosecution within the lawsuit as a broken occasion.
According to guage Aguirre, Negreira was accountable for rating and evaluating the referees. However, no proof has been discovered to this point of Negreira paying referees to affect match outcomes, Aguirre mentioned in early September.
Source: www.dailysabah.com
