Real Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti has said that “people doubting the competition is not good” in the wake of Spanish prosecutors launching an investigation into Barcelona over payments to a company owned by a refereeing official.

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

Spanish prosecutors are investigating the payments, which are worth around €1.4million (£1.2m). Barcelona said in a statement they were aware of the investigation.

Ancelotti said on Friday that he “did not want to talk” about the investigation and instead was “focused” on Real Madrid’s La Liga match at Osasuna. But he did say that football “has to be clean at all times”.

“It’s clear that people doubting the competition is not good,” he said. “Sport has to be clean at all times and we all try to keep the game clean.”

Ancelotti had previously claimed that “corruption is gone compared to the past” after Atletico Madrid CEO Miguel Angel Gil Marin claimed that Real Madrid get preferential treatment from referees.

“Everything that is not objective can create controversy,” Ancelotti said in January. “The corruption is gone compared to the past. In general, refereeing has improved a lot across Europe.”

Barcelona said on Wednesday the club had “hired the services of an external consultant” that supplied “technical reports related to professional refereeing,” calling it “a common practice among professional football clubs”.

Then-Barcelona president Josep Maria Bartomeu told Spanish outlet Cadena SER, who initially reported the payments, that they were legitimately made then ended due to cutting costs. He also claimed the payments had existed as early as 2003.

Former Barcelona president Joan Gaspart (2000-2003) denied knowing of any payments, while Joan Laporta, both former (2003-2010) and current (2021-) president of the club, declined to comment.

The Athletic has previously contacted Enriquez Negreira for comment.

Source: theathletic.com