A Spanish report has confirmed that the announcement of a final decision by UEFA against Barcelona in the so-called Negrera case is closer than ever.

The newspaper "Mundo Deportivo" (Mundo Deportivo) Spanish to the existence of 3 possibilities for the decision of UEFA, one of which is to close the case without imposing sanctions on the Catalan club, a decision that the management of Barcelona wishes.

She explained that the second option is to ban Barcelona from participating in European competitions for one season, according to UEFA regulations, and then the Blaugrana will be able to resort to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (TAS).

Article 4.2 of the UEFA Champions League Regulations states that "if UEFA concludes that a club has engaged in an activity aimed at influencing the outcome of a match at a domestic or international level, that club becomes ineligible to participate in European competitions."

"The decision is valid for one season since it was made, and UEFA has the right to rely on a similar decision of a national sporting body, and it has the right not to take the decision."

Third, UEFA could conclude that the decision should be postponed until the judicial investigation is completed, which means no immediate sanction will be imposed on the club.

Charges in Negrera case

FC Barcelona faces charges of "corruption", "breach of trust" and "false business records" in a case of paying money to Jose Maria Enrique Negrera, former vice-president of the referees committee. Previous reports said Negrera received 7 million euros from Barcelona between 2001 and 2018.

On May 12, 2023, Barcelona had already received an initial licence to participate in the Champions League for the next season 2023-2024.

Barcelona won the 2022-2023 La Liga title, for the 27th time in its history, and the first since the 2018-2019 season.

Therefore, Barcelona, if officially participate in the next edition of the Champions League, will be in the first level among European clubs, as champions of LaLiga.

Juan Laporta, president of Barcelona, has previously called on UEFA President Alexander Cefern to wait and not prejudge the Catalan club in the Negrera case.