Spanish prosecutors to probe Barcelona's payments to company of ex-refereeing official

By Selcuk Bugra Gokalp

ANKARA (AA) - The Barcelona Prosecutor’s Office announced Thursday that it is launching an investigation into the Barcelona football club and a Spanish refereeing committee over a claimed €1.4 million ($1.49 million) worth of payments by Barca to a company owned by the vice president of a refereeing committee of Spain's football body, the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF).

The club reportedly made the payments between 2016 and 2018 to a company of Jose Maria Enriquez Negreira, who was then vice president of the Technical Committee of Referees (CTA) of the RFEF.

The CTA is the body responsible for determining which referees and assistants officiate weekly matches in Spain.

Barcelona in a statement denied any wrongdoing after the claims emerged before a Manchester United match.

Barca said they were aware of the investigation and that they had hired the services of an external consultant which supplied them with "technical reports related to professional refereeing" in order to complement information requested by the first and second team coaching staff.

The club said this is known to be a common practice among professional football clubs.

Barcelona promised to take legal action against those trying to tarnish the club's image.