MADRID — The Royal Spanish Football Federation joined a long list of entities that will take legal action against Barcelona for a corruption case.
The Prosecutor’s Office formally charged the Catalan club last week on suspicion of corruption, fraudulent administration and falsification of commercial documentation in relation to payments of millions of euros to a company owned by the former vice president of the technical committee of referees.
A judge admitted the accusation and prosecutors specialized in acts of corruption were left in charge of the case.
The government of Spain, the League, Real Madrid and several have spoken out against Barcelona. All have appeared in the legal process for the controversial payments that have shaken the foundations of Spanish football.
The RFEF (the initials of the federation) was informed on Thursday that it brought a report to UEFA to explain what motivated the appearance in court against Barcelona. He added that he collaborates with the authorities and that he has opened an internal investigation into the facts.
In addition to advocating that it go “to the end” to clarify what happened, the federation asked for “the necessary and advisable serenity that helps to reduce the climate of tension that has been created towards the arbitration group” in Spain.
“This is not beneficial for football. The application of justice requires time and to prove those facts that may be illegal ”, he added.
( Spanish government will go against Barça for corruption )
Barcelona’s payments were uncovered last month. The club denies committing any wrongdoing or having a conflict of interest, claiming it paid to receive technical reports on referees but never influenced their decisions in matches.
Barcelona president Joan Laporta said the club was the “victim of a campaign against his honor”.
In court documents observed by The Associated Press, prosecutors said the club’s payments actually amounted to 7.3 million euros ($7.7 million) from 2001 to 2018. They added that “it was real compensation.” not provided for in the club’s statutes or approved by the general assembly, so it lacked a title that would justify it,” according to the documents.
No evidence has yet been found that the performance of the referees or the results were influenced.
