Barcelona club president Joan Laporta has denied accusations that the club have attempted to buy referees.

The Catalan giants have recently been accused of receiving years of favours from a refereeing official.

Barcelona reportedly made payments of €1.6m (£1.4m) between 2016 and 2018 to the former vice-president of the Technical Committee of Referees, Jose Maria Enriquez Negreira.

Dasnil 95, a company owned by Negreira, also received payments totalling €7 million (£6.2m) from Barcelona for 17 years until Negreira stepped down from his role in 2018.

Laporta has strongly refuted accusations that the club have bought referees and revealed that he will hold a press conference to discuss the matter.

The Barcelona president told reporters: "We have a press conference in which we will talk about this issue.

"Barcelona have never bought referees and Barcelona have never had the intention of buying referees - absolutely never.

"The forcefulness of the facts contradicts those who try to change the story. We are doing well again, nothing is casual. There is a campaign to damage Barcelona's interests.

"It is a campaign aimed at controlling the club. La Liga does not accept that Barcelona did not sign the contract with CVC."

La Liga has ruled out the possibility of relegation or handing out a points penalty due to the time restriction on punishments.

However, according to El Pais, the Spanish Justice department are set to submit a formal complaint against the club.

The prosecutor's office will accuse Barcelona of 'continuous corruption', with the period between 2016 and 2018 believed to be the focus of their investigation.

Former club president, Josep Bartomeu, will also be charged, and it will now be up to a judge to decide whether there are grounds to pursue the case.

Meanwhile, on the pitch, Barcelona are sitting nine points clear at the top of the La Liga table as they attempt to win their first league title since the 2018-19 season. body check tags ::