Izuchukwu OkosiBarcelona faces a nervous wait to find out if they will be banned from the UEFA Champions League after being accused of paying off officials according to reports.
The report was first made public in March 2023 when state prosecutors in Spain filed formal charges against Barcelona for fabricating financial records, dishonest administration and corruption in sports.
The La Liga champions have now been accused of bribery after a recent raid by the police on the office of the referee committee.
Barcelona has reportedly been accused of bribery by judge Joaquin Aguirre, according to the Spanish publication El Debate.
According to reports, the recent bribery charge could lead to Barcelona’s exclusion from the UEFA Champions League.
Barcelona has reportedly been accused of bribery by judge Joaquin Aguirre, according to the Spanish publication El Debate.
The bribery allegation was said to be in reference with payments of £6 million that were made to José Maria Enruquez Negreira, a former vice president of the Technical Committee of Referees.
The former presidents of Barcelona, Maria Bartomeu and Sandro Rosell, as well as Negreira and his son Javier Enriquez Romero, have all been prosecuted.
The LaLiga champions are charged with breaking a statute that prohibits officials from getting paid for doing public tasks.
With the recent allegations levelled against Barcelona, they could be banned by the UEFA governing body from participating in Champions League tournaments beginning fe next season.
However, it is not expected that the ban would affect the Blaugrana’s 2006 UEFA Champions League final victory when they defeated Arsenal 2-1 in the final.
Izuchukwu Okosi is a Nigerian sports and entertainment journalist with two decades of experience in the media industry having begun his media journey in 2002 as an intern at Mundial Sports International (MSI) and Africa Independent Television (AIT), owners of Daar Communications Plc.
In October 2004, Okosi joined Complete Communications Limited, publishers of Complete Sports newspaper and Complete Football magazine as a reporter and later script writer for the Complete Sports studio.
He worked there for 13 years until October 2017.
Okosi also worked various times as Correspondent, Content creator and Editor at Sports Market International Magazine, Opera News, All Nigeria Soccer Media and Iconic Media Watch.
He also undertook freelance writing gigs for some local and international organizations.
Okosi is a member of the Actors Guild of Nigeria (AGN), Association of Movie Producers (AMP), Association of Voiceover Artistes of Nigeria (AVOA), Sports Writers Association of Nigeria (SWAN) and Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ).
He has been part of cast in some Nollywood movies and radio dramas including Blood Money 2, Scores To Settle, Dead End 2, Another Campus Tale and Battle Line.
Aside mainstream media and the entertainment industry, he has interests in scouting/unearthing of talents in the sports and creative sectors, exports business and property development.
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