UEFA are keen to march onwards with their investigation into Barcelona and El Caso Negreira.
Yesterday UEFA President Aleksander Ceferin told the press that the Negreira case was one of the most serious situations that he had ever seen in football. UEFA have opened an investigation that could bring serious consequences for the Blaugrana, including a suspension from European competition if it is deemed that they tried to influence matches.
Marca report that UEFA have internally decided that they want to a verdict on the matter by June. If they do decide on a punishment Barcelona disagree with, then they will likely go through the UEFA Court of Appeals, followed by the Court of Arbtitration for Sport to appeal their sentence.
Hence why they want to get the process completed as soon as possible. Their idea is that the appeals would be finished before the start of the current season, whereas it would be far more difficult to uphold a suspension once the current season has started.
Diario AS go on to say that the precedent set with Malaga is concerning those in Barcelona. Malaga were banned from Europe for a year for financial irregularities, where UEFA chose not to admit them into the Europa League. It was not a sanction as such, rather UEFA decided they were inelegible due to their tax issues until they were cleared up. While Barcelona’s issues are not financial, they too could be susceptible to exclusion if they cannot come up with a reasonable explanation by then.
Previous reports indicate that Barcelona will sue UEFA should they attempt to exclude the club before justice has run its course. The lawsuit could be worth up to €100m.