Barcelona are threatened with exclusion from the Champions League

A tense situation grips FC Barcelona officials due to an expected fine for the Catalan club in the latest scandal involving referee bribery.

It comes after the Attorney General’s Office in Spain decided to indict Barca for corruption and bribery, paying former referees’ committee vice-president Jose Maria Negrera to facilitate the team’s work at matches.

And the president of the Spanish league, Javier Tebas, has hinted that not only will Barcelona face bans at the local level, but that the bans will reach the European level.

According to the Spanish newspaper “Sport”, Barcelona officials fear sanctions from the European Football Association, especially since “UEFA” law can veto Barcelona’s participation in European competitions if an action is taken aimed at influencing the outcome of the competition. Locally or internationally.

Accordingly, the newspaper confirmed that Barcelona officials fear the idea of ​​excluding the Catalan team from participating in the European Champions League next season, adding to the financial crisis the Blaugrana have suffered in recent years.

Notably, Barcelona bowed out of the European Champions League this season in the elimination round (32), after losing to Manchester United.

Last season, Barcelona had a bye to the European Champions League from the group stage as it finished third in its group behind Bayern Munich and Benfica, and returned to the Europa League, where it was eliminated by German Eintracht Frankfurt in the quarter-finals. .