Barcelona could face Jeonbuk Hyundai and Ulsan Hyundai in an official competition.
British media outlet SportsBible cited a report from Catalan outlet Onze on Wednesday (Feb. 3) that Barcelona will push for a place in the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Champions League (ACL) if it receives a suspension from European competition.
The report came out early last month, when Barcelona was still in the spotlight for the so-called ‘Negreira incident’, but it seems to have resurfaced as the possibility of a suspension has become increasingly likely.
“Barcelona is very positive about the ‘Negrera case’ but there is still a possibility of discipline from UEFA,” the outlet said at the time, adding that “the club has started a study in case of a suspension from European competition.”
“One option is to play a friendly, another is to try to participate as a guest in a tournament where they can earn revenue,” he said, adding that “according to our information, all eyes within the club are on an Asian competition.”
Barcelona has been confirmed to have paid a company founded by veteran referee Negreira, the former vice president of the Referees’ Technical Committee, between 2001 and 2018.
This is something that other clubs have done in the past to access referee reports and purchase video footage, but the issue came to light after a bookkeeping scandal broke during the tenure of former president Josep Bartomeu.
UEFA has been investigating the case since March to determine its authenticity.
If the case is found to be a violation of UEFA regulations, Barcelona could face a ban from UEFA-organized competitions.
Furthermore, Barcelona, along with Juventus and Real Madrid, is one of the key players in the current Super League project.
Juventus has already been disciplined for its domestic bookkeeping scandal and UEFA is considering whether to suspend the club from European competition next season. Barcelona could face the same consequences as 안전놀이터 Juventus if they are found guilty of the same allegations.
In that case, Barcelona would lose a huge source of revenue. As a result, Barcelona will have to take a chance on the ACL in order to cash in.
This would be worse for Barcelona than Juventus, as they would have to take out a loan, which would cost them a lot of cash.
Barcelona’s “Espai Barça” project to renovate the Camp Nou stadium will begin next season, and the club has borrowed heavily from Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan for the project.
In addition, the financing was made possible by leveraging the club’s many tangible and intangible assets, along with major labor cuts during the COVID-19 pandemic. While there are no immediate principal payments due, there should be a steady stream of cash coming in to at least cover the interest payments.