Too late to sanction Barca over ex-refereeing official payments: LaLiga president

(Reuters) - LaLiga President Javier Tebas said it would be too late for the league to sanction Barcelona over payments made to a company owned by a high-ranking official of Spain's refereeing body, though it may be possible on a "criminal level".

Spanish radio Cadena SER said on Wednesday that Barcelona made the payments between 2016 and 2018 to a company of Jose Maria Enriquez Negreira, who was at the time vice-president of a refereeing committee of the Spanish football association.

Spanish prosecutors said they are investigating around 1.4 million euros ($1.49 million) in payments made by Barcelona.

The club have said they "hired the services of an external consultant" that supplied them with "technical reports related to professional refereeing".

Barcelona said it was a "common practice among professional football clubs".

Tebas said on Thursday it was clear that the services "should never have been provided" but that the statute of limitations had expired.

"It won't be possible for Barcelona to receive disciplinary sanctions," he said. "Five years have gone by and (the period to hand out) these types of sanctions expires after three years.

"On a sporting level it isn't possible, but it may be on a criminal level. The prosecutor's office is looking into the facts to see whether a match-fixing crime has been committed by individuals."

Cadena SER quoted Enriquez Negreira as saying that his advice was verbal and included players' interactions with referees and that he denied ever favouring Barcelona in any refereeing decisions or disputes.