UEFA opens investigation into the Negreira case after Real Madrid's complaint
UEFA has confirmed that it has received the complaint filed by Real Madrid regarding the Negreira case and has announced the continuation of the investigation into the payments made by Barcelona to José María Enríquez Negreira, former vice‑president of the Spanish referees' technical committee.
Real Madrid's Complaint
The confirmation came via an official communication from UEFA, to which Real Madrid responded with a press release. In the document, the Spanish club emphasized the seriousness of the facts and the impact on the integrity of the competition. “The complaint filed by our club includes extensive documentation and evidence relating to facts of extraordinary seriousness, which directly concern the integrity of the competition and confidence in the refereeing system,” the release reads.
The documentation sent by Real Madrid is now in the hands of the European inspectors, who will have to examine it carefully. According to the newspaper AS, the dossier includes a very large amount of documents and material related to the case. The club has asked that the investigation proceed as quickly as possible: “We consider it essential that, now that UEFA has this documentation, the investigation moves forward with the utmost speed to its full conclusion and that the competent bodies adopt decisions that correspond to the seriousness of the established facts.”
Barcelona Payments
At the heart of the controversy are the payments made by Barcelona to entities linked to José María Enríquez Negreira. The Catalan club paid more than €8.4 million over eighteen years, from 2001 to 2018.
The payment period spanned four presidencies: Joan Gaspart, Joan Laporta (in his first term), Sandro Rosell and Josep Maria Bartomeu. Barcelona has argued that the sums were linked to consulting services and technical relations concerning referees.
UEFA Disciplinary Procedure
The disciplinary investigation was launched by UEFA in 2023. In April of that same year, President Aleksander Ceferin described it as one of the most serious incidents in football, calling it extremely grave.
In the following three and a half years, UEFA waited for the judicial resolution, but the recent complaint from Real Madrid reactivated the case file. The analysis of the evidence will follow, with the possibility of applying Article 4 of the UEFA regulations, which provides for exclusion from European competitions in case of an attempt to alter the result of a match.
Real Madrid has also confirmed its willingness to cooperate actively with UEFA to shed light on facts incompatible with the principles of integrity, transparency and fair play: “Our club will continue to cooperate actively with UEFA and to undertake all actions at its disposal to shed light on facts that it considers incompatible with the principles of integrity, transparency and fair play that must guide European football.”