Barcelona planning to cut ties with Super League to prevent Champions League ban

According to Vozpopuli (h/t Madrid Xtra), Barcelona are considering publicly severing connections with the Super League in order to avoid receiving a Champions League ban from UEFA, due to the Negreira issue.

The Catalan giants were accused of engaging in corrupt practices after it was discovered that high-ranking Spanish referee Jose Maria Enriquez Negreira received payments totaling €7.3 million (£6.4 million) between 2001 and 2018.

The Spanish Treasury found no evidence that Barcelona’s payments to the former referee committee vice president Negreira influenced results.

Despite rebuking the scandal, Barcelona face a legal threat from UEFA, including a possible Champions League ban, because of its payments of millions of euros to a company linked to a Spanish refereeing official.

A ban from the esteemed European competition would prove to be highly problematic for the Blaugrana as this would dampen Barca’s financial muscle.

In spite of elimination from the group stages, Barcelona still earned around €70m from being in Europe, and in a more successful season, a figure closer to €120M is expected.

The decrease in earnings would force them to follow La Liga’s directive to spend even less on their team, making it more challenging to execute signings or successfully renew their current players.

In light of these threats, President Joan Laporta is considering the possibility of cutting ties with the Super League. After Juventus’ resignation from the Super League, only Barca and Madrid remain as the last two teams supporting the competition.

Attempting to patch things up with the Champions League and its president Aleksander Ceferin, departing the Super League is reportedly set to free from Barcelona from any threats on their involvement in the competition.