Real Madrid demanded that UEFA speed up the investigation against Barcelona over payments to Negreira

Real Madrid have demanded that UEFA speed up its investigation against Barcelona over payments to former vice-president of the technical committee of referees of the Royal Spanish Football Federation, Jose Maria Henriques Negreira. This was reported by Sport-Express with reference to the club’s statement.

The Madrid club handed over about 50 thousand pages of documents and evidence to UEFA. The European Federation has confirmed receipt of a significant amount of material. UEFA ethics and disciplinary inspectors will examine the submitted documents as part of an ongoing investigation.

In a statement, Real said the complaint contains extensive documentation and evidence of facts of extreme seriousness that directly affect the integrity of the competition and the credibility of the refereeing system. The Club considers it necessary that the investigation proceed with maximum speed until its completion, and that the competent authorities take appropriate decisions taking into account the seriousness of the facts established.

Barcelona paid Negreira €8.4 million between 2001 and 2018. In 2023, the Barcelona prosecutor's office brought charges of bribery and falsification of commercial documents against the Catalan club and its management. According to investigators, in return for payments, Barcelona received advice on the work of referees and reports on referees assigned to the team's matches.