Hyderabad: The Spanish club Barcelona are penalised 500,000 euros and they have lost an appeal against the ruling by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA). The football governing body in Europe accused Barcelona of “wilfully and consciously” misreporting their income to fit in with European soccer's financial rules.
The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in Laussane dismissed the appeal from the Spanish giants and also said that the fine imposed on the club is “actually rather mild.”
The whole issue started when Barcelona reported a financial deal where they sold the percentage of its broadcast rights for the next 25 years.
UEFA said that the reporting of the deal was “manifestly inaccurate and non-compliant”. They further added that the club misreported the deal purposely in its financial accounts and also overstated its break-even results by an amount of 267 million euros (USD 290 million).
The European football’s governing body also stated that the club sent the wrong information and its behaviour is to be “condemned in the clearest terms.” After losing their appeal at the UEFA, Barcelona tried to seek justice in the CAS. However, CAS upheld the sanction with the reason that a smaller fine would not prevent a major club like Barcelona from misreporting its income.
The club has faced financial difficulties in recent years and had to allow the club great Lionel Messi to leave.
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