Spain’s Clasico is one of the world’s biggest sporting occasions, pitting giants Barcelona and Real Madrid head-to-head, but the build-up to Sunday’s La Liga clash has been overshadowed by “Caso Negreira”.

Barca have been charged with corruption by Spanish prosecutors for payments between 2001 and 2018 to the company of former refereeing chief Jose Maria Enriquez Negreira, totalling around 7.3 million euros ($7.8 million).

The club say they were paying for reports and advice on refereeing but prosecutors have accused the club of seeking to gain favourable decision-making from officials.

Charges were filed last week against Barcelona, former vice president of Spain’s refereeing committee (CTA), Negreira, and two former Barcelona presidents, Sandro Rosell and Josep Maria Bartomeu, among others.

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