Barcelona take Florentino Perez to court over ‘systematic corruption’ claims

Barcelona have demanded that Real Madrid president Florentino Perez withdraw allegations linking the club to refereeing corruption, or identify the referees, matches and evidence behind his claims.

The dispute will be addressed at a formal conciliation hearing before the Madrid courts on 25 November. If Barcelona’s demands are not met, the club could file a criminal complaint against Perez for defamation, shifting the long-running Negreira case into a new legal confrontation.

The original investigation concerns payments made by Barcelona to companies connected to Jose Maria Enriquez Negreira and his son. Negreira was formerly vice-president of the Technical Committee of Referees, and investigators have examined payments exceeding 7 million euros during the period under review.

Barcelona says the money paid for technical reports and advice on referees, rather than for favourable decisions. The club has produced hundreds of reports and documents which it says were the result of those services. However, the investigation has questioned their value and whether they were used internally, with some coaches saying they did not know about them or use them.

A report by Spain’s Civil Guard said the investigation had not established that an amount exceeding 7.5 million euros was actually allocated to the consultancy work described by Barcelona. It also found no clear evidence that the reports had been used by departments within the club, while some cash withdrawals from companies linked to Negreira had not been fully traced.

The report did not conclude that the money had been used to buy refereeing decisions or matches, but listed that possibility among the lines of inquiry. Testimony from referees to the Civil Guard did not establish direct influence over competition. Some believed Barcelona may have sought a sporting advantage through its relationship with Negreira, while others said such influence was either impossible or had not taken place.

A Spanish Tax Agency report published in 2026 also said it had found no evidence that Barcelona’s money went to referees or was used to influence match results. It did, however, refer to repeated cash withdrawals from Negreira’s accounts and said the final purpose of some payments remained unresolved. In May 2024, Barcelona Provincial Court removed the bribery charge from the case, ruling that Negreira did not qualify as a public official under the relevant offence. The sports corruption investigation continues.

Perez has described the Negreira affair as “systematic corruption” and “the biggest scandal in history”. He has also said Real Madrid were denied seven league titles by refereeing decisions and that Barcelona “always benefit” from refereeing.

Barcelona is now challenging those statements as false and damaging to the club’s reputation. Under Spanish law, defamation involves attributing a crime while knowing the allegation is false, or acting with reckless disregard for the truth. A defendant may avoid punishment by proving the crime attributed to the other party.

The hearing will therefore test not whether Barcelona has been cleared of every issue surrounding Negreira, but whether Perez can substantiate his strongest accusations. He may withdraw them, or maintain them and risk a wider legal dispute.