Barcelona president, Joan Laporta has insisted that the club โnever bought referees or influence.โ
Laportaโs comments follow the revelation of payments to Jose Maria Enriquez Negreira, the former vice president of the refereeing committee.
Barca paid Negreiraโs company around โฌ7 million between 2001 and 2018.
The payments between 2016 and 2018 totalling โฌ1.4m are the subject of a tax office investigation into Negreiraโs earnings.
Laporta initially claimed the payments were for โtechnical reports on refereeing.โ
On Tuesday, he reiterated that Barcelona did not pay for anything else.
โWe will give a news conference on it soon. But Barca never bought referees or influence. That was never the intention and that has to be clear. The facts contradict those that are trying to tell a different story,โ Laporta said.