UEFA can already punish Barça despite Laporta's confidence

 “UEFA will rule when we are judged. And since we will be exempted, we will continue as normal", assured the Blaugrana president. But UEFA can already sanction.

Joan Laporta, president of Barcelona, ​​used a conciliatory tone with UEFA in his appearance to give explanations about the 'Negreira Case'. Contrary to his attacks against Javier Tebas and Real Madrid, the Barca president unmarked Aleksander Ceferin, president of UEFA, as well as Luis Rubiales (RFEF), José Manuel Franco (Supreme Sports Council) and Gianni Infantino (FIFA). of the "public lynching" that Barcelona is suffering, in his opinion, and he was confident that the case will not lead to a sports sanction at a European level.“Beyond the fact that we have some discrepancies, Mr. Ceferin is also acting prudently and responsibly. For the moment, he has not fallen into the same error as Thebes. The case in UEFA is 'sub judice' and will be pronounced when we are judged. And since I am convinced that we will be exempted, we will continue as normal," he assured at the press conference before more than a hundred accredited media.

Laporta's words can be understood as a measure of pressure so that UEFA does not rule until there is a final judicial sentence in the open criminal proceedings in Spain, which can be delayed between three, four or five years with the relevant resources. corresponding. However, as AS has been telling, the highest body in European football can decide to sanction Barcelona in the coming months. UEFA's Ethics and Disciplinary Committee has already opened an investigation through two neutral inspectors (Jean-Samuel Leuba and Mirjam Koller) that could lead to a sanction by the Court of Appeal. UEFA, with the entry into force since 2007 of articles 4.02 and 4.03 of the regulations in its competitions,It contemplates in its regulations the prohibition of participating in its competitions to teams that have been involved in some "attempt to influence the result of a match, whether national or international." "This ineligibility is effective only for one season", collects the articles of the European entity. Under these premises, Barcelona faces a possible ban from participating in the Champions League for one season, a punishment that could be applied as early as 2023-24. In addition, the Court of Arbitration for Sport (TAS, in its acronym in English), an instance to which the Blaugrana club could resort in case it was sanctioned, usually rules in favor of UEFA.

At an official level, the European body does not want to make any comment on the words pronounced by Laporta. Thus, he remains in line with Ceferin's appearance during his re-election in Lisbon as UEFA president. On that occasion, he did not want to make any assessment of the 'Negreira Case' on the direct recommendation of UEFA's lawyers as everything was under judicial investigation. His position contrasted with the one he exhibited in previous days in an interview with the Slovenian newspaper Ekipa, in which he described the situation "as one of the most serious he has seen in football." “I have informed myself and the situation is extremely serious. It is so serious that, in my opinion, it is one of the most serious in football that I have seen. At the level of the Spanish League, of course, the matter is prescribed. and it cannot have competitive consequences, but the procedures are ongoing at the level of the Spanish civil prosecutor's office. But as far as UEFA is concerned, there is nothing that is prescribed," Ceferin said.

The Fenerbahce case

What happened to Fenerbahçe is similar to that of Barcelona. On June 25, 2013, UEFA banned Fenerbahçe from participating in Europe due to the 2011 Turkish sports corruption scandal. The club appealed to CAS and on July 18, the Court temporarily lifted the ban, allowing Fenerbahçe to play the previous round of Champions (2013-2014 campaign), although he was eliminated. At the end of August of that year, the CAS finally ruled in favor of UEFA and left Fenerbahçe without the Europa League for that edition.

The following season, Fenerbahçe was classified for the Champions League after winning the Turkish Super League, but UEFA prohibited their participation. Their place in the group stage was taken by second-placed Galatasaray. And the other place in the Champions League jumped to Besiktas (3rd). However, after a new trial was given the go-ahead, in 2015 all the defendants were found not guilty. The process lasted until 2020 when the Supreme Court ratified the acquittal of the president of Fenerbahçe (Aziz Yildirim) and the rest of the defendants due to lack of evidence. The Ottoman club then announced that it would sue UEFA and the Turkish Football Federation for damages. The case is still open and under study.