Aleksander Ceferin has broken his silence on the Negreira case that concerns Barça. The president of UEFA has described as "extremely serious" a matter that studies the payments of the Barcelona club for almost two decades to a company of José María Enríquez Negreira, former vice president of the Technical Committee of Referees.
The Slovenian leader, in an interview for his country's newspaper Ekipa, does not fully assess the case, since the European body is investigating what happened since March 23, but he shows his concern and dares to say that it is one of the "most serious situations in football that I have ever seen".
"I cannot comment directly on this for two reasons. Firstly, because we have an independent disciplinary committee in charge of it. And secondly, because I have not dealt with this matter in detail. However, I can say something. I have informed myself and the situation is extremely serious," Ceferin said.
The Negreira case was uncovered due to the tax irregularities of José María Enríquez Negreira and is currently in the judicial phase, still in the initial investigation process. Although in Spain the possible sports sanctions against Barça have prescribed, since the last payments date back to 2018, the Barcelona entity is exposed to criminal punishment.
However, UEFA, a private organization, does have the power to fine Barça by removing it from its tournaments, including the Champions League. To do this, they do not need a court ruling and it is enough for them to consider that the Barcelona club has breached the legal framework and has damaged the image of the competition.
"As far as UEFA is concerned, there is nothing that is prescribed," Ceferin warned before the celebration of the Executive Committee of the continental entity this Wednesday, when the Negreira case will be analyzed. Other teams, such as Olympique de Marseille and Fenerbahçe, were removed from European competitions for allegedly fixing matches, an assumption that has not been proven in the case of Barça.
