Spanish police raid soccer federation as part of probe into Barcelona’s payments to referee official

MADRID (AP) — Spanish police raided offices of the Spanish soccer federation on Thursday as part of a judicial investigation into the alleged payment of millions of euros over several years by Barcelona soccer club to the vice president of Spain’s football refereeing committee.

The Guardia Civil confirmed to The Associated Press that its police had searched the offices of the referee committee at the federation headquarters near Madrid. The police said they had not made any arrests and were acting on the orders of the judge investigating the case.

In March, state prosecutors formally accused Barcelona of corruption in sports, fraudulent management, and falsification of mercantile documentation. Prosecutors said the club paid José María Enríquez Negreira, a former referee who was a part of the federation’s refereeing committee from 1994 to 2018, 7.3 million euros ($7.7 million) from 2001-18.

Barcelona has denied any wrongdoing or conflict of interest, saying it paid for technical reports on referees but never tried to influence their decisions in games.

The raids come after the federation has been rocked by a sexism scandal after its now former president kissed a player without her consent during the Women’s World Cup awards ceremony last month.

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