October 2 – Real Madrid have submitted new documentation in the Negreira case to UEFA. The case centres on payments made by FC Barcelona to José María Enriquez Negreira, the former vice-president of Spain’s Technical Committee of Referees, over two decades.
In 2023, UEFA launched an investigation. In Spain, there is an ongoing criminal case.
On Thursday, UEFA confirmed that it “has received from Real Madrid CF a substantial amount of documents related” to the case. “The UEFA Ethics and Disciplinary Inspectors have also received these latest documents which they will assess as part of their ongoing review.”
Barcelona have said the payments, which totalled more than €7 million, were made for technical refereeing reports.
In a statement on Thursday, Real Madrid said: “The complaint filed by our club includes extensive documentation and evidence regarding events of extraordinary seriousness, which directly affect the integrity of the competition and confidence in the refereeing system.”
“Real Madrid C.F. considers it essential that, now that UEFA has this documentation, the investigation proceeds with the utmost urgency until its full conclusion, and that the competent bodies take the appropriate decisions in accordance with the severity of the verified facts.”
The filing of new documents will sour the relationship between to the two clubs. Last May, Florentino Perez, the president of Real Madrid, said that Barcelona had stolen league titles.
The Catalan club has emphasised that the new document submitted by Real Madrid do not equate to a new proceeding.
In a statement, FC Barcelona said: “The proceedings were initiated in 2023, with the appointment of two investigators who have since carried out the action they deemed appropriate. The Club has always complied with all their requests. These proceedings have not been reopened because they have never been closed.”
“In accordance with the applicable legislation governing this matter, these proceedings are subject to the outcome of the criminal case currently being heard in Spain and will continue to be so.”