In recent weeks, the Caso Negreira scandal has branched out from Spain, with European interest now in the case, largely with regards to UEFA.
In March, UEFA announced that they had opened an investigation into Barcelona’s alleged relationship with Jose Maria Enriquez Negreira, former Vice President of the Referee’s Committee, which their President, Aleksander Ceferin, has called “extremely serious”.
On Wednesday, Barcelona’s own President, Joan Laporta, wrote to both UEFA and FIFA asking them to hold off on handing down any possible sanction until the conclusion of the Prosecutor’s Office’s investigation. It comes amid reports that European football’s governing body wants to hand down judgement by the end of June.
Should Barcelona be punished by UEFA, which would likely result in a ban from the Champions League, there is precedent for them to be successful in their likely appeal. Diario AS have highlighted cases in the past where clubs have been banned from European competitions, before having their sanctions lifted on appeal.
Porto were banned from the Champions League for the 2008/09 season after being found guilty of match fixing five years prior by the Portuguese league. However, on appeal, they were reinstated on European football’s premier competition as Porto’s disciplinary process in Portugal had not yet been completed.
In 2013, after Steaua Bucharest’s former owner was jailed for offering bribes to players back in 2008, the Romanian club were given a ban from European competition. However, UEFA chose to defer the sanction for five years.
Barcelona have maintained their innocence throughout Caso Negreira, and as such, would likely be confident of either avoiding sanctions, or being successful in their appeal if they were punished.
