FC Barcelona have reportedly been charged with corruption by Spanish prosecutors over a referees scandal.
The Catalan outfit will face charges of corruption over payments they made to former vice-president of Spain's referees' committee, Jose Maria Enriquez Negreira.
Reports surfaced last month that Barcelona had paid Negreira and a firm that he had owned 8.4million between 2001 and 2018.
Read: Barcelona boss: Why I met with Lionel Messi's agent
On Friday, it was confirmed that former Barcelona former presidents Josep Maria Bartomeu and Sandro Rosell, Negrieria and other former club officials had been charged for corruption, breach of trust and false business records.
"FC Barcelona obtained and maintained a strictly confidential verbal agreement with Jose Maria Enriquez Negreira so that, in his capacity as vice-president of the technical arbitral committee (CTA) and in exchange for money, the latter carries out actions tending to benefit FC Barcelona in decisions by the referees," the public prosecutor's office said, as per BBC Sport.
Current Barcelona president Joan Laporta recently denied claims the club attempted to buy referees.
"We have a press conference in which we will talk about this issue," Laporta told reporters this week, as per Sports Mole.
"Barcelona have never bought referees and Barcelona have never had the intention of buying referees - absolutely never.
"The forcefulness of the facts contradicts those who try to change the story. We are doing well again, nothing is casual. There is a campaign to damage Barcelona's interests.
"It is a campaign aimed at controlling the club. La Liga does not accept that Barcelona did not sign the contract with CVC."
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