FC Barcelona Suggest Abandoning Super League Amid Champions League Ban

FC Barcelona don’t expect to be handed a suspension from the Champions League by UEFA
EFA
next season and have suggested abandoning the European Super League project as a gesture of good will, according to MARCA.

The Catalans were charged with “continuous corruption in the sports field” in March for making payments to the Technical Committee of Referees’ ex-Vice President, Jose Maria Enrique Negreira.

According to El Mundo, Barca paid Negreira an amount approaching €7 million ($7.5 million) from 2001 to 2018.

Current club president Joan Laporta, who also ruled from 2003 to 2010, has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing and insists that the payments were made for honest consultation work.

UEFA swiftly opened its own investigation for a “potential violation” of its laws. At the turn of June, ABC reported that two investigators concluded Barca “violated the legal framework” determined by the European governing body and that there are signs of activity aimed at influencing the outcome of matches which means they should be banned from the Champions League for a year.

On the cusp of UEFA announcing which teams will contest the next edition of the Champions League, though, Barca are convinced that they will be on the list according to MARCA.

Attempting to mend fences with the organization and its president Aleksander Ceferin, Laporta has suggested abandoning the breakaway European Super League project. Furthermore, the club pulled out of a lawsuit with Real Madrid and Athletic Club against La Liga over the CVC deal before the weekend as reported by Mundo Deportivo.

Accepting the CVC agreement was viewed as a way of killing off the failed European Super League as it ties Barca and Real Madrid to the Spanish top flight championship for 50 years through the sale of 10% of their television rights over that period of time.

After the other nine founders of the European Super League pulled out in the spring of 2021 in the face of fan backlash, Juventus, Barca and Real Madrid were the only three clubs left supporting the potential competition.

Last week, though, according to AS, Juventus sent a letter to the two rivals in El Clasico explaining that they have begun the process to withdraw from the Super League. The Italians allegedly received pressure to do so, or be banned from continental competitions as part of their own potential punishments stemming from open cases with UEFA.

UEFA has taken note of Barca’s gesture, and would view getting them to scrap their Super League plans as a victory and ultimately the end of the direct threat to the Champions League.

With newfound collaboration and understanding between the two parties, Barca, who have qualified for the Champions League as title winners, would therefore not understand any temporary ban from the next edition of the tournament and don’t expect it either.