Spanish league clubs concerned by Barcelona payments

By TALES AZZONI
AP Sports Writer

MADRID (AP) — Spanish league clubs have expressed unease about the payments by Barcelona to the vice-president of the refereeing committee over several years. The league has released a statement saying the majority of the clubs showed “deep concern about this case, which they consider to be of the utmost seriousness.” Barcelona has been under scrutiny since a state prosecutor was revealed to be probing club payments totaling millions of dollars to a company that belonged to the vice president of the Spanish federation’s refereeing committee. League president Javier Tebas says Barcelona president Joan Laporta “should resign if he can’t explain the payments.”