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UEFA opened a formal investigation into
Barcelona last month for potential violation of the European
soccer governing body's legal framework regarding payments made
by the club to a company owned by a senior refereeing official.
"I cannot comment directly on this for two reasons," Ceferin
told Slovenian newspaper Ekipe SN in an interview published on
Monday.
"Firstly, because we have an independent disciplinary committee.
And secondly, because I have not dealt with this matter in
detail.
"However, I can say something. As far as I am informed, the
situation is extremely serious. So serious that it is, in my
opinion, one of the most serious (ones) in football since I have
been involved in it."
The alleged payments of 7.3 million euros ($7.96 million) were
made by Barcelona from 2001 to 2018 to firms owned by Jose Maria
Enriquez Negreira, then-vice president of the refereeing
committee of the Spanish Football Association.
"At the level of the Spanish league, of course, the matter is
out of date and cannot have competitive consequences, while the
proceedings are ongoing at the level of the Spanish civil
prosecutor's office," Ceferin added.
"The same applies to UEFA, nothing is time-barred here either."
In a statement in February the club denied any wrongdoing,
saying it had paid an external consultant who supplied it with
technical reports related to professional refereeing, which it
claimed was a common practice among professional football clubs.
($1 = 0.9173 euros)
(Reporting by Anita Kobylinska in Gdansk, editing by Pritha
Sarkar)
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