What is the most recent F.C. Barcelona scandal?

Here’s a look at the latest Barcelona scandal, which broke while the club was still recovering from one of its worst financial crises and the departure of Lionel Messi.
What occurred?Prosecutors claim Barcelona paid up to u20ac7.3 million ($7.7 million) to the company of committee vice president Josu00e9 Mara Enrquez Negreira between 2001 and 2018 not justified because they were not anticipated in the club’s statutes or approved by its general assembly (of club members).
The payments were allegedly made in exchange for technical reports on referees and youth players, albeit at inflated prices. Reports on referees are common practice, and clubs can pay for them or have them prepared internally, as Barcelona does now.
Giving large sums of money to the company of someone involved in the running of Spain’s referees for the reports, on the other hand, is not common practice. The payments were investigated as part of a tax investigation into the company of Enriquez Negreira, a former referee who served on the refereeing committee of the Spanish Football Federation from 1994 to 2018, when the payments ceased.
The committee is in charge of selecting referees for each match, among other things. So far, there is no evidence that referees or game outcomes were influenced during the period in which Barcelona made the payments.
Formal indictmentProsecutors charged Barcelona with sports corruption, fraudulent management, and falsifying mercantile documentation.
Barcelona itself, Enrquez Negreira, former Barcelona presidents Sandro Rosell and Josep Maria Bartomeu, and former Barcelona executives Scar Grau and Albert Soler are all accused.
Prosecutors said there was enough evidence to believe Rosell and Bartomeu, who led Barcelona in consecutive terms from 2010 to 2016, reached a confidential, verbal agreement with Enriquez Negreira, who in exchange for money was to carry out acts tending to favour Barcelona Football Club in the decision-making process of referees in the games played by Barcelona, and in the results of the competitions.
What Barcelona has to sayThe club has vehemently denied any wrongdoing or conflict of interest. It acknowledged the regular payments to Enriquez Negreira’s company but stated that they were only for technical reports and not to influence refereeing decisions.
Barcelona has yet to provide a full explanation for its relationship with Enriquez Negreira. The club stated that it hired an independent firm to conduct its own investigation and that it expects to provide a more detailed account of what happened once that is completed.
source: MoreTalkFCBBaru00e7a is innocent of the accusations made against it and is the victim of a campaign, which now involves everyone, to harm its honorability, said President Laporta.
Spain’s referees publicly distanced themselves from Barcelona and Enriquez Negreira’s relationship. Many former referees who were active when Enriquez Negreira was their vice president stated that they were never pressured by him or other officials.
What comes next for the club?An investigating judge will decide whether the prosecutors’ accusations should result in charges.
Sporting sanctions against Barcelona were initially not considered because the statute of limitations on the possible irregularities had expired, but if the club is eventually convicted, it could result in a ban from competitions.
There was no immediate timetable for the courts’ next steps.