Barcelona: New Details Emerge About Spanish Giants’ Referee Payment Allegations

• Barcelona are accused of paying the Vice President of the Referee's Committee over the course of a few years
• New information suggest that Barcelona were guilty of wrongdoings, with Joan Laporta named personally
• Real Madrid are the only Spanish side to not support a statement raising concerns over the payment allegations

Things are not looking good for FC Barcelona.

The club have denied any wrongdoing after allegations surfaced that they have been paying the Enriquez Negreira over the years, but new information could suggest otherwise.

Negreira was the Vice President of the Referee's Committee at the time he received money from the Catalan club.

SportsMole, quoting Marca, have reported that a registered letter from Negreira to Barcelona in 2018 has now been made public. In the letter, Negreira appeared to threaten Barca after they tried to stop the payments.

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So many favours

In the letter, Negreira reminded Barcelona of "so many years of close ties, so much lending of favors and so much confidence shared."

Barcelona president Joan Laporta is also named in the letter as one of the people who was directly communicating with Negreira during the period.

Barca are accused of paying the former Vice-president's company over a period of years. The club maintain that there's nothing suspicious about the payments and that many clubs pay for advice to benefit coaching analysis.

La Liga's teams want action

40 of the 42 teams in Spanish football's top two leagues supported a statement about the issue, rejecting Barcelona's explanation and expressing their concern about the matter. The only teams who haven't supported the statement are Barcelona and Real Madrid, Football Espana said.

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Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti was also asked about the matter recently. As noted by Marca, Ancelotti stated that he believed there was no corruption commited by Barcelona.

"There is no corruption neither here nor in Europe.

"Referees make mistakes everywhere and if they fail you just have to accept it. I get angry sometimes, but I am super convinced that at the moment there is no corruption in the world of soccer."

Tebas wants Laporta to resign

Sports Brief reported that Joan Laporta’s reign as Barcelona president could be set for an abrupt end following the latest financial scandal rocking the Catalan club.

The five-time Champions League winners have been accused of paying more than €1.5 million to a company owned by the former Vice President of the Referees Technical Committee in Spain from 2016-18.

La Liga president Javier Tebas has now called for Laporta to step down as the Barcelona president if he cannot explain the club's 33 payments.