"Extraordinarily serious facts": Real Madrid (again) accuses Barcelona before UEFA in the Negreira case

According to Spanish media, UEFA has confirmed receiving numerous documents from Real Madrid that could be compromising for Barça in the Negreira affair and the alleged payment of bribes to the former vice-president of the Spanish Football Federation's Referees Technical Committee. FC Barcelona has launched a counter-attack.

Florentino Perez has kept his word. In May, the Real Madrid president announced his intention to send UEFA a full report on the Negreira affair. In this sprawling case, which broke on February 15, 2023, Barça and some of its former executives are under investigation for alleged payments of more than €7.3 million that the club is said to have made to José María Enríquez Negreira, former vice-president of the Technical Committee of Referees (CTA), between 2001 and 2018. While Real Madrid accuses its rival of corruption, the Catalan club has always maintained that these payments were for consulting services related to refereeing.

Barça defends itself

As reported by Spanish media, UEFA confirmed on Thursday that it had received these documents. The file, which was handed over on June 17, reportedly comprises 50,000 pages. A preliminary investigation by the European governing body into this matter was opened in 2023. It remains open until the proceedings in Spain are concluded. "UEFA's ethics and disciplinary inspectors have also received these latest documents, which they will evaluate as part of their ongoing review of the case," the European body reportedly stated, according to Mundo Deportivo.

In a statement, Real Madrid confirmed its strong accusations against its rival: "The complaint filed by our club includes extensive documentation and evidence concerning extremely serious matters, which directly affect the integrity of the competition and confidence in the refereeing system." For its part, Barcelona maintains that UEFA's statement on Thursday "contains no assessment of the substance or value of the documents provided."