New twist over Barcelona's payments to Negreira as Real Madrid hands UEFA dossier
Real Madrid sends UEFA new documents in Barcelona's €7 million Negreira payments case
UEFA says it has received a large amount of documents from Real Madrid as part of its investigation into Barcelona and the Negreira case.
The case centers on payments Barcelona made over two decades to companies linked to José María Enriquez Negreira, a former vice-president of Spain's Technical Committee of Referees.
The payments totaled more than €7 million ($7.9 million), but Barcelona says they were for technical refereeing reports.
UEFA has been investigating since 2023, and a criminal case is also underway in Spain.
In a statement Thursday, UEFA said it received "a substantial amount of documents" from Real Madrid. Its Ethics and Disciplinary Inspectors have the documents and will assess them as part of their ongoing review.
Real Madrid said the documents contain"extensive documentation and evidence" about serious events that hurt the fairness of the competition and trust in referees. The club wants UEFA to act quickly and finish the investigation as soon as possible.
President Florentino Pérez said in May that the club was gathering evidence, and claimed Barcelona had "stolen seven league titles" from Madrid. That is a sharp change from 2024, when he said the two clubs "have to help each other" on the proposed European Super League.
Barcelona said the news does not mean any new proceedings. It said the case began in 2023, has never been closed, and so was never reopened. The club said UEFA's statement only confirms it got the documents and does not judge their value.
Investigators have not made new requests to Barcelona or sent it Madrid's complaint, it said, and it will respond if they do.
Barcelona also said UEFA's case has to wait until the criminal case in Spain is finished.
