Barcelona investigation: Police search headquarters of Spanish referees

In March, Spanish prosecutors filed a complaint and UEFA announced it was opening an investigation into Barca after it was reported the club had made payments to companies owned by Jose Maria Enriquez Negreira, the former vice-president of Spain's referees committee, between 2001 and 2018.

A statement from the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) on Thursday evening said: "Today, the Civil Guard has carried out a documentary search at the headquarters of the technical committee of referees of the RFEF in the framework of the investigation of the 'Negreira Case', events that have to do with the federative administration of two stages prior to the current management.

"All RFEF personnel have collaborated at all times with the request for information from the state security forces and bodies.

"The RFEF remains at the disposal of justice for the sole purpose of clarifying the facts under investigation as soon as possible."

UEFA said in March that ethics and disciplinary investigators had been appointed to look into "a potential violation of UEFA's legal framework" by Barcelona in relation to the case.

In July its appeals body confirmed the LaLiga outfit had been granted provisional access to the 2023-24 Champions League but acknowledged: "A future decision on admission/exclusion from the UEFA club competitions is reserved."

It added: "The investigators in charge of the case are invited to continue and finalise their investigation and to send a further report to the appeals body if and when they consider that the admission/exclusion of FC Barcelona should be assessed."

Barcelona deny any wrongdoing in the case.

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