What is FC Barcelona’s Negreira case, and what are the charges?
Summary
Real Madrid has asked UEFA to quickly finish its investigation into FC Barcelona's alleged payments to Jose Maria Enriquez Negreira, a former Spanish refereeing official, to influence match referees between 2001 and 2018. Barcelona denies any wrongdoing, saying the payments were for refereeing reports, while Spanish prosecutors have charged Barcelona and others with corruption.Key Facts
- Barcelona allegedly paid over 7.3 million euros (about $7.95 million) to Negreira’s companies from 2001 to 2018.
- Negreira was vice president of Spain’s refereeing committee from 1993 to 2018.
- In March 2023, Spanish prosecutors charged Barcelona and two former club presidents with corruption, fraud, and falsifying documents.
- Barcelona says it only paid for technical refereeing reports and denies corruption.
- UEFA started investigating in 2023 and decided in June not to punish Barcelona, allowing them to keep playing in European competitions.
- Real Madrid supports the charges and wants Barcelona stripped of nine titles won during the years of the alleged payments.
- UEFA has received a large amount of documents (around 50,000 pages) from Real Madrid to review in the investigation.
- UEFA, Real Madrid, and Barcelona have all made statements confirming the ongoing investigation but no new proceedings have been opened yet.
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