FC Barcelona has found itself at the center of a major scandal in Spain after the media accused the club of paying €1.4 million to the vice-president of the Technical Committee of Referees in Spain.

Barcelona shed light on the allegations

Barcelona responded with a statement clarifying the amount of money paid to the company of former referee Jose Maria Henriques Negreira.

“In response to today’s information, FC Barcelona, ​​which is aware of the investigation into payments to external companies, would like to clarify the following aspects:

1. In the past, FC Barcelona used the services of an external consultant who provided the club’s technical secretaries with video reports on young players from other clubs in Spain.

2. In addition, the relevant vendor relationship also extended to technical reports on professional arbitration matters to complete the information requested by the first and second teams. This is a common practice among professional football clubs.

3. These types of external services are now the responsibility of a professional working in the football department.

4. FC Barcelona regrets that this information has been released at a time when the team is experiencing its best form of the season.

5. FC Barcelona will take legal action against those who try to tarnish the club’s image with possible insinuations against its good reputation, which may be caused by the disclosure of such information,” reads the statement posted on the official website.