BarcelonaFinally there was white smoke. UEFA informed Barça this Friday that they will be able to compete in the next edition of the Champions League and that they will not have any sanction for the Negreira case. “UEFA investigators have completed their work with Barça in relation to the Negreira case and have concluded, and have communicated this to the club today, that Barça is admitted for all purposes to compete in the next edition of the League of Champions”, the Barcelona club explained in a statement.
Thus ends a UEFA investigation that began in March and in which those responsible for the Ethical and Disciplinary Committee of the highest European football body wanted to know what had happened to the payment of more than seven million euros to whom being vice-president of the Spanish referees, José María Enríquez Negreira, for 17 years.
The body chaired by Aleksander Ceferin at the time had observed a possible “legal violation” of UEFA laws and warned that it would reach the end of the investigation. A few weeks earlier, through Andreu Camps, general secretary of the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF), it had already become known that UEFA had requested information to try to clarify everything that had happened. “In accordance with Article 31(4) of the UEFA Disciplinary Regulations, UEFA Ethics and Disciplinary Inspectors have today been appointed to conduct an investigation into a possible breach of UEFA’s legal framework by part of FC Barcelona in relation to the so-called Negreira case”, said the note that UEFA published three months ago.
But the work in the Barça offices has worked. Those were days of a very intense media storm. “It seems that they have already condemned us”, commented club sources, while everyone was waiting for the president Joan Laporta to make the public appearance he had promised to give explanations. “He is gaining time,” they added from the noble offices. The president took the floor in mid-April, assured that Barça was not guilty of any crime – on the contrary, he said that the organization had been harmed – and was in charge of slapping everyone, from Real Madrid – whom he accused of “cynicism” – to the president of the League, Javier Tebas, for having contributed to the investigation by providing evidence that was later found to be invalid.
Laporta already predicted in April that UEFA would not sanction Barça
On the other hand, the one who did not deserve any criticism but left the press conference with a soapy bath was the president of UEFA. “Mr. Ceferin, for his part, is acting prudently and responsibly,” said Laporta. “He hasn’t fallen for Mr. Tebas’s trap, at least for now. The inputs what I have from the UEFA investigation is that it will be pronounced when we are on trial. And since I am convinced that Barça will be exempt from any criminal liability, I am clear that we will continue as normal.”
The noble offices applauded UEFA’s decision as if it were a title for the greats, since Barça’s economic viability depended on its participation in the Champions League. This does not mean that the club has avoided the sanction, but that the football body – as Laporta already predicted, who during these months has met personally with Ceferin – will wait for the trial to take place. And years may still pass, since the Negreira case is in the investigation phase and the parties involved have not even been summoned to testify.
2023-06-30 16:56:07
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