Barcelona confident of avoiding Champions League ban by UEFA amid corruption case

Barcelona are unperturbed by the news of UEFA might likely ban them from the Champions League following allegations of making illegal payments to a former referee official in Spain.

It was claimed that Barcelona made several payments to Jose Maria Enriquez Negreira, the former vice-president of Spain's refereeing committee, for match official information and analysis.

UEFA had threatened to throw the Catalan giants out of its competition including the Champions League after it opened its own investigation into the allegations.

However, 90MIN reports that Barcelona are 'confident' that UEFA will not hit them with a ban or financial penalty as they continued to plead their innocence on the corruption scandal.

Barcelona believes that any punishment from UEFA could be legally reversed or challenged if they are found not guilty by Spanish courts.