Spanish government to side against Barcelona over payments

José Manuel Franco, president of Spain’s sports council, said that the government will join the other accusing parties in the legal proceedings against the club.

FILE PHOTO: FC Barcelona’s logo. | Photo Credit: REUTERS

The Spanish government’s top sports authority will take action against Barcelona in the legal proceedings the club is facing for its payments of millions of dollars over several years to a company that belonged to the vice president of the country’s refereeing committee, an official said on Monday.

José Manuel Franco, president of Spain’s sports council, said on channel Telecinco that the government will join the other accusing parties in the legal proceedings against the club.

The council is the latest to announce plans to act after prosecutors on Friday formally accused Barcelona of alleged corruption, fraudulent management and falsification of documentation. An investigating judge will decide whether the accusations should lead to charges.

Real Madrid announced after an urgent board meeting on Sunday it will also side against its biggest rival, becoming the latest club to express concerns about the case. The Spanish league and the Spanish football federation also planned to act.

Barcelona has been under scrutiny since the payments to the vice president of the refereeing committee became public last month. Barcelona has denied any wrongdoing or conflict of interest, saying it paid for technical reports on referees but never tried to influence their decisions in games.

Club president Joan Laporta said on Sunday that Barcelona was “innocent of the accusations” and was “the victim of a campaign, that now involves everyone, to harm its honorability.” He said ”many will be forced to rectify.”

Prosecutors said in court documents seen by The Associated Press that the payments by the club totaled as much as 7.3 million euros ($7.7 million) from 2001-18. They added that this “quantity was not justified because it was not foreseen in the statutes of the club nor approved by its general assembly (of club members).”

There is so far no evidence that referees or game results were actually influenced during the period in which Barcelona made the payments.

Barcelona increased its Spanish league lead to nine points over Real Madrid on Sunday after an equalizer by Athletic Bilbao was disallowed by video review following a controversial handball in the buildup.