"No sanctions at the sporting level" - La Liga president on Barcelona's possible disqualification

La Liga President Javier Tebas commented on the accusations against Barcelona, which is suspected of possible bribery of referees.

- It is clear that these services should not have been provided. However, Barcelona cannot receive any disciplinary sanctions. Five years have passed, and the deadline for issuing such sanctions expires in three years. There can be no sanctions at the sporting level, only at the criminal level. The prosecutor's office is looking into the facts to establish whether there was a crime of organising match-fixing. Let's see how the investigation ends," said Javier Tebas.

Earlier it was reported that the Catalan "Barcelona" is accused of possible bribery of referees. During 2016-2018, the Blaugrana bosses paid €1.4 million to DASNIL 95, a company owned by former Vice President of the Referees' Committee Jose Negreira. The case is being investigated by the Catalan prosecutor's office. Negreira has already testified, stating that these were payments for verbal consultations - including how players should behave with each referee - and not for making the referees more loyal to Barcelona.