Barcelona has been charged with corruption for payments made to Jose Maria Enriquez Negreira, the ex-vice-president of Spain's referees' committee. The complaint focuses on the 2.9 million euros paid between 2014 and 2018, alleging that Barcelona cheated the system.

The public prosecutor's office announced on Friday that Spanish prosecutors had filed a complaint against the Catalan giants and two of the La Liga club's ex-presidents for alleged payments to a company owned by the senior refereeing official in order to influence match results.

Between 2001 and 2018, the club allegedly paid businesses owned by Enriquez Negreira, who served as president of the Spanish Football Association from 1993 to 2018, over €7.3 million (£6.4 million).

Negreira allegedly favoured Barcelona "in the decisions taken by referees in the games played by the club, as well as in the results of the competitions" under a covert agreement and "in exchange for money," according to the prosecution.

The club denied the allegations in a statement last month, saying they had simply paid an external consultant who supplied them with "technical reports related to professional refereeing", calling it "a common practise among professional football clubs". Enriquez Negreira also denied ever giving Barcelona preferential treatment in terms of refereeing judgements.

The complaint focuses on the €2.9 million paid between 2014 and 2018, and it asserts that Barcelona and Negreira came to a "confidential verbal agreement" with the assistance of former presidents Sandro Rosell and Josep Maria Bartomeu.

The club, Rosell, Bartomeu, Negreira, and two other former Barcelona officials are accused of corrupting sports, conducting unfair business practises, and forging mercantile documents.

A tax inspection started the investigation. According to the El Pais newspaper, Negreira informed the Spanish tax agency that Barcelona wanted "neutral" referees to officiate their matches.