UEFA confirms receipt of Real Madrid documents in Barcelona’s Negreira case

UEFA has confirmed that it has received a substantial collection of documents from Real Madrid relating to its investigation into Barcelona and the Negreira case.

European football’s governing body said on Thursday that Real Madrid had submitted a “large quantity of documents” concerning the ongoing inquiry into payments involving Jose Maria Enriquez Negreira, the former vice-president of the Technical Committee of Referees of the Royal Spanish Football Federation.

UEFA added that the material had also been passed to its ethics and disciplinary inspectors, who will examine it as part of the current review.

Real Madrid has been compiling an extensive report for several months, bringing together documents linked to payments made by Barcelona to companies associated with the former Spanish refereeing official.

According to Marca, Real Madrid has been seeking to move the matter to an international level after what it considers limited progress in Spain. The club wants European sporting authorities to assess the possible consequences of the case.

The Spanish newspaper also reported that Real Madrid had restored normal relations with UEFA and was close to doing the same with the European Club Association. During its discussions, the club continued to argue that the Negreira case should be addressed at European level.

UEFA’s statement confirms that the documents submitted by Real Madrid are now part of the material being reviewed by the governing body’s relevant departments. However, it did not announce that formal disciplinary proceedings against Barcelona had been opened.

Real Madrid’s most recent action in the case came last June, when it formally announced that it had sent a letter to UEFA’s disciplinary bodies. The club asked for disciplinary proceedings previously initiated by UEFA against Barcelona to be resumed.

At the time, Real Madrid said it had supplied evidence that, in its view, strengthened indications concerning Barcelona’s ongoing payments to Enriquez Negreira. The club described the matter as, from its perspective, a “very serious risk” to the integrity of competitions.

UEFA opened an investigation into Barcelona in March 2023, appointing ethics and disciplinary inspectors to examine whether the club may have breached UEFA regulations in connection with the Negreira case.

The investigation centres on payments received by Enriquez Negreira and companies linked to him from Barcelona over a number of years. Documents in the investigation indicate that the payments exceeded 7.5m euros between 2001 and 2018, in return for reports related to refereeing.

Barcelona denies any wrongdoing and says the money was paid for consultancy services and technical reports on referees.

The investigation has also found no evidence that Enriquez Negreira paid referees in order to influence the results of matches.