Prosecutors in Spain have confirmed that they have filed corruption charges against Barcelona and two of the La Liga club’s ex-presidents Sandro Rosell and Josep Maria Bartomeu.

The charges are related to payments made to Jose Maria Enriquez Negreira, the former vice president of the refereeing committee.

Negreira’s company was paid almost € 7 million from Barca from 2001 to 2018. They stand accused of corruption in sports, corruption in business, false administration, and the falsification of commercial documents. Rosell was Barcelona’s president from 2010 to 2014 and was replaced by Bartomeu. Bartomeu then resigned in 2020 after six years at the helm, with Joan Laporta eventually elected as his replacement in 2021. Barca insists the payments were for “technical reports on refereeing”.