Barcelona have been cleared by UEFA to take part in the 2023/24 Champions League, news that comes as a major relief to the La Liga side who still find themselves in serious financial difficulty despite winning the Spanish top flight in 2022/23.
Having been charged with corruption in March 2023, there was a very real chance that Barcelona could be banned from the Champions League even though they qualified through the league – something that would have been a major sporting and financial blow. They were knocked out of their group last season and then swiftly knocked out of the Europa League, so there is a real focus on getting back into the latter stages of European football’s premier club competition.
Here’s why Barcelona were under the microscope in the first place, and what has led to their guaranteed involvement in the competition in a few months’ time.
Barcelona were investigated in connection to payments made to former referee and vice-president of Spanish football’s refereeing committee, Jose Maria Enriquez Negreira.
Negreira refuted the allegations and said that he had never favoured Barcelona during his career as a referee, with the club backing his version of events despite hiring him as an ‘external consultant’ who would provide reports about refereeing.
It was alleged that between 2016 and 2018, Negreira was paid by Barcelona to tell the players how they should behave and act with each referee, in the aim of getting favourable treatment. It was also said that Negreira’s advertising company, DASNIL 95 SL, would deliver an envelope to the Barcelona offices each time they played a La Liga or Copa del Rey game.
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The envelope contained a written report and a DVD containing a video analysis and profile detailing the on-pitch behaviour of their upcoming referee.
Negreira has claimed he was paid for ‘technical advice to ensure that no controversial refereeing decisions went against Barcelona.’ He cost €500,000 per season and around €1.4m in total.
It is important to note that Negreira denies that there was ‘an envelope’ and instead says his technical advice was all verbal – a claim his own son denies.
In very simple terms, UEFA have not completed their investigation yet and therefore do not have grounds to ban Barcelona from the Champions League.
That means that, while this is good news for Barcelona, it is only good news in the short term. As UEFA have outlined in their statement on the matter, there is still scope for further punishment and future bans could come into effect.
A statement read: “The UEFA Appeals Body has taken the following decision with regards to the admission of FC Barcelona in the 2023/24 UEFA club competitions.
“The proceedings concerning the admission of FC Barcelona to the 2023/2024 UEFA club competitions are suspended and may be resumed, ex officio, or at the request of the Ethics and Disciplinary Inspectors (EDIs) in charge of the case.
“FC Barcelona is provisionally admitted to take part in the 2023/2024 UEFA club competitions. A future decision on admission/exclusion from the UEFA club competitions is reserved.
“FC Barcelona is obliged to keep the EDIs informed of the progress of the ongoing investigations proactively and to provide the EDIs with all the documents and information they request.
“The EDIs in charge of the case are invited to continue and finalise their investigation and to send a further report to the UEFA Appeals Body if and when they consider that the admission/exclusion of FC Barcelona should be assessed.”
The key wording of UEFA’s statement is that the decision to allow Barcelona to compete in the Champions League is provisional. That in itself will be a concern to Xavi, president Laporta and the rest of the club’s hierarchy, who know how valuable a run to the knockout stages of the competition could be financially.
The added television revenue, and prize money from performance in the competition, would go a long way to helping Barca address their financial woes, which continue to dog them despite the release of a number of long-serving, well-paid players.
That means as a precautionary measure, Barca are likely to push for sales for the likes of Franck Kessie and Clement Lenglet – players who could stick around and do a job on the fringes of the first team but would likely take up valuable money that could be best spent elsewhere.
UEFA may also receive appeals from other sides hoping to see Barcelona expelled from the competition, though it remains to be seen if a club is willing to put their head above the parapet.
