NYON — Real Madrid say they have sent UEFA "evidence of extraordinary gravity" relating to Barcelona's payments of 8.4m euros (£7.2m) to former vice-president of Spain's referees' committee Jose Maria Enriquez Negreira between 2001 and 2018, with European football's governing body describing the dossier as "substantial" and confirming its ethics and disciplinary inspectors will assess it as part of their ongoing review.
Real said the dossier, reported to be more than 50,000 pages in length, contains evidence "which directly affects the integrity of the competition and confidence in the refereeing system." UEFA said its inspectors will "assess it as part of their ongoing review." In a statement on Thursday, Real urged the investigation to progress "as quickly as possible until its complete conclusion" and to "adopt the corresponding decisions in accordance with the seriousness of the proven facts."
Barcelona responded in a statement on Thursday that UEFA had "not opened any new proceedings" against them. The club said proceedings were initiated in 2023 with the appointment of two investigators who have since carried out the action they deemed appropriate, adding: "These proceedings have not been reopened because they have never been closed." Barcelona said investigators have not made any new requests nor forwarded Real Madrid's complaint to the club, and that "should they do so, the club will respond accordingly," noting the file is subject to the outcome of criminal proceedings in Spain.
Barcelona have repeatedly denied any wrongdoing since the matter came to light in 2023 amid an investigation by tax authorities, stressing the money was for scouting and technical reports provided by Negreira and his Dasnil 95 company about officials. It has been alleged previously that money paid to Negreira was being used to bribe referees, which Barcelona have strenuously denied.
In June 2023, UEFA's investigators decided Barcelona would not face any punishment and the club has continued to appear in European competition since then. A Barcelona court has been looking at the case since the same year and that investigation is still ongoing. La Liga president Javier Tebas said in March 2023 that the competition body "could not take any action" because the case was "time-barred in sports law, but not in criminal law."