Barcelona has declared that they are exploring legal recourse following the press conference held by Real Madrid President Florentino Perez. Although Perez announced new elections at Real Madrid, he also revealed that Los Blancos intend to submit a dossier concerning the Negreira case to UEFA, citing a perceived lack of action from Spanish authorities.
Currently, Barcelona faces accusations of sporting corruption in Spain. These charges stem from the discovery of payments totaling approximately €7-8 million made to Jose Maria Enriquez Negreira, the former Vice-President of the Referees Committee, over a 17-year period. Barcelona has vehemently denied any wrongdoing. The case is currently in its pre-trial phase, involving the collection of testimony. However, Perez announced Real Madrid’s intention to seek action from UEFA.
“Three years ago, we became aware of the Negreira Case. It’s the biggest scandal in history. They have been paying for two decades, and now, for this third decade, it’s the same referees. We will present a substantial dossier to UEFA so they can address this at its root and resolve the case for the benefit of world football.”
Negreira Dossier to Be 500 Pages Long
Perez further characterized LaLiga as Real Madrid’s “perennial enemy” and disclosed that the dossier to be sent to UEFA would comprise 500 pages.
“Of course, there’s also our perennial enemy, LaLiga. We are going to fight. I am fighting against all of them. The systemic corruption of the Negreira Case… How can we simply forget it? We are preparing a 500-page dossier that I will send to UEFA once the season concludes. I have already communicated with them. There is no precedent for this in the history of world football. It is the largest corruption case ever.”
Real Madrid has recently seen an improvement in relations with UEFA, particularly after their withdrawal from the Super League initiative.
“We prevailed with the Super League at the CJEU, and now we are in negotiations with UEFA. We desire free football, so that children in Africa can watch football without cost, similar to the Club World Cup. This is not solely for Real Madrid; it’s for the betterment of football. UEFA has recognized this, and we are making positive progress.”
Claim of “Helping Barcelona” Preceded Negreira Case
In 2024, Florentino Perez stated at Real Madrid’s General Assembly that clubs like Barcelona and Real Madrid “have to help each other.” When questioned about this remark, he inaccurately claimed it was made after the Negreira case revelations.
“That was long before the Negreira case. We only recently learned about it; we could not have anticipated that the head of the referees was distributing money from Barcelona for two decades. This issue has surfaced late. Since then, we have been compiling a dossier and will get to the bottom of it. It is the most significant corruption case in football’s history. For the good of football. No one in the world would ever contemplate bribing referees. It is inconceivable.”
“We have been left empty-handed. I have been here for countless seasons and have only won seven European Cups and seven league titles, which could have been fourteen because they have been taken from me. We have produced a video detailing the 18 points that have been unjustly taken from us this season. I cannot remain silent about this. I do not seek constant praise, but this conspiracy involving certain individuals at SER, others at COPE… No, that is insufficient.”
Perez indicated that he has the support of Real Madrid members in their opposition to the Negreira case and “others,” though he did not specify whom he was referring to.
“The Real Madrid members stand with me in my fight against Negreira and the others. It is not always Real Madrid that suffers; other teams do as well. Barça always benefits. UEFA will intervene in this matter; they will. It is unacceptable that they are under suspicion of corruption paid for over 20 years. We will observe the outcomes in both the criminal and sporting aspects with UEFA. And we will see what transpires. UEFA has agreed to receive the entire dossier. I did not come here to allow referees to profit from Barcelona’s money. I came here to fight.”
Barcelona Announces Potential Legal Action
In a statement released shortly after Perez’s press conference, Barcelona announced that their legal department was investigating potential legal action in response to his statements and accusations. Throughout the Negreira case, Barcelona has consistently maintained that their payments were for consultancy and scouting reports on referees.
