Barcelona could be BANNED from the Champions League after charges were laid regarding the Negreira case.
Marca says the filing of the lawsuit by the Public Prosecutor's Office alongside the charges brought against Barcelona are set to seriously jeopardise the club's chances of featuring in European competition next season.
As soon as it is admitted for processing, with all indications suggesting it will be, UEFA could be in a position to consider that the reputation of the Champions League would be damaged by the presence of the Catalan team in next season's European competitions.
Article 4 of the competition rules leaves no room for doubt. In fact, this article comes into force to establish a line of defence that protects the spirit of the game and, in particular, the values that UEFA intends to establish to ensure a worthy competition.
Champions League, Europa League and Conference League regulations stipulate in Paragraph G of Article 4 the admission criteria and procedures for clubs and underline that clubs may not have participated in any way in the illegal alteration of matches at both national and international level, something that clashes head-on with the grounds of the condemnation filed by the prosecution.
Days ago, UEFA requested information on the status of the investigation, the demands and what they claimed. This has set off alarm bells both in Nyon and at the Camp Nou.
