Rumours emerged this week that Barcelona paid Negreira to draw up reports on La Liga referees during the Josep Maria Bartomeu era.

Reports had claimed that Barcelona provided Negreira with multiple payments from 2016 to 2018.

However, both Barcelona and the former official have denied the claim, insisting that Barca only appealed to him to receive ‘technical reports’ on referees and lower-league players.

La Liga president Javier Tebas has now reacted to the sanctions Barcelona may face if found guilty.

Some reports had suggested that Barca could be relegated from the Spanish top division or simply face a deduction of points.

However, Tebas is looking at monetary fines rather than sporting fines.

“In sporting terms, there will be no sanction,” Tebas said.

“Barca cannot be sanctioned sportingly, because no criminal complaint has been filed and above all, the facts are outdated. La Liga will help the court with the investigation into Negreira,” he added.