Hours after the US Open Cup final, the unexpected news that Messi receives from Barcelona

Inter Miami fell in the final of the US Open Cup and Lionel Messi was one of the players who couldn't be in the game, so he could be seen a little restless from the stands of the stadium. However, the player was unable to overcome his physical discomfort that kept him from any possibility of playing in his second final with Inter Miami and with it, losing the US Open Cup against the Houston Dynamo.

Now, a few hours after falling in the final of said competition, Lionel Messi receives unexpected news from Barcelona. The club appears to be involved in a new scandal and this during a time when Lionel Messi was at the club. It should be noted that the Argentine has no involvement in the trouble that his former team has gotten into, but the serious accusations against the club are surprising.

According to El Confidencial, the 7.5 million euros that FC Barcelona paid to José María Enríquez Negreira, former vice president of the Technical Committee of Referees for 17 years, constitute a crime. That is to say, a possible referee influence in favor of FC Barcelona is being investigated during a certain period of time. Time in which Messi was an essential part of the Catalan club. This is what Joaquín Aguirre, head of the Investigative Court number 1 of Barcelona, believes, who has accused FC Barcelona of bribery as reported by 'El Debate'.

What does the document that accuses FC Barcelona say?

"The crime of bribery has been consummated once the payment has been made, whether or not the systemic corruption of Spanish arbitration due to such payments is demonstrated," recalls the judge. FC Barcelona did not use a "traditional payment method" but rather used "a novel form of possible illegitimate remuneration." For the judge, it represents "possible systemic corruption" in the CTA since Negreira controlled the referee qualification system. As explained in 'El Confidencial', bribery is "a type of criminal offense that does not require proving the adulteration of specific matches and that contemplates more serious sentences."