Barcelona granted clearance to play in Champions League with huge caveat

Spanish giants Barcelona can heave a sigh of relief, at least for now, after receiving provisional clearance to play in next season’s UEFA Champions League despite an ongoing investigation into alleged referee tampering.

European football’s governing body announced on Thursday that they would allow the Blaugrana to participate in the 2023/24 UCL but noted that, pending investigations from Spanish authorities, they still hold the right to exclude them in future.

In a statement released on Thursday, UEFA said, “The proceedings concerning the admission of FC Barcelona to the 2023/2024 UEFA club competitions are suspended and may be resumed, ex officio, or at the request of the Ethics and Disciplinary Inspectors (EDIs) in charge of the case.

“FC Barcelona is provisionally admitted to take part in the 2023/2024 UEFA club competitions. A future decision on admission/exclusion from the UEFA club competitions is reserved.”

Barcelona continue to battle the fallout of the infamous Negreira scandal, which threatens to tarnish the image of the Catalan club further.

The 2022/23 LaLiga Champions were accused of paying former refereeing chief Enriquez Negreira large sums of money, up to €7 million to influence league arbitrators with the matter reaching Spanish courts where prosecutors have charged Barcelona with corruption in sports.

Barcelona continue to plead their innocence and will be grateful to have scaled UEFA’s disciplinary measures at least for the time being.