Real Madrid have filed “extensive documentation and evidence” to UEFA regarding allegations FC Barcelona made payments to former referee José María Enríquez Negreira.
The match-fixing allegations against FC Barcelona and Negreira span almost two decades according to Real Madrid, with payments of up to €7.4m being sent by the Catalan club to the former Vice President of Spain’s Technical Committee of Referees (CTA).
An investigation into the ‘Negreira case’ was opened up by UEFA in March 2023 and is currently ongoing.
Real Madrid is calling for the UEFA investigation to proceed “with the utmost urgency” following the submission of the documents.
“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,” said Real Madrid in a statement.
“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.
“Our club will continue to actively collaborate with UEFA and take all actions within its power to clarify events that it deems incompatible with the principles of integrity, transparency, and fair play that should govern European football.”
Barcelona continues to deny wrongdoing
Shortly after Real Madrid made its announcement yesterday (1 September), FC Barcelona responded with a statement of its own, stating that “UEFA has not opened any new proceedings against” the club and maintains its cooperation with the investigation.
“The UEFA statement confirms receipt of documentation submitted by Real Madrid and indicates that the investigators will assess it within the framework of the existing investigation,” said FC Barcelona’s statement.
The same text expressly refers, on two occasions, to an investigation and a review that are “ongoing.” It therefore does not announce the opening, reopening, or reactivation of any proceedings, nor does it contain any assessment of the substance or value of the documentation provided.”
FC Barcelona has consistently denied any wrongdoing or allegations of match-fixing since the payments to Negreira came to light in 2023.
The club claims it hired the former referee and VP of the CTA to provide reports of referring, while Negreira denied payments were used as a vehicle for bribery to influence referring decisions in favour of FC Barcelona.
However, Negreira did claim FC Barcelona paid him to ensure the club during arbitration had neutrality in disputes.
A (brief) timeline of the ‘Negreira case’
Reports emerged in February 2023 that FC Barcelona made payments to a company in Negreira’s name, leading to questions of bribery and match-fixing of FC Barcelona games.
UEFA opened a separate investigation into the matter in March 2023 for the timeframe of the alleged offences between 2001-2018. The dossier filed by Real Madrid this week will be sent to the organisations’ Ethics and Disciplinary body.
Former Barcelona Presidents Sandro Rosell, Josep Maria Bartomeu and Negreira were indicted of corruption, bribery, breach of trust and false business records, along with current President, Joan Laporta.
A Barcelona court rejected the allegations of bribery in May 2024. A Spanish court also dismissed the bribery charges, but the investigation continued considering the charges of corruption.
In September 2024, a Spanish judge extended the investigation to collect evidence for an additional six months, which currently has no concrete proof that Barcelona’s payments were directly sent to Negreira, or that the payments were used to manipulate the outcome of La Liga games.
