UEFA renews investigation into Barcelona’s Negreira case after Real Madrid submits new evidence
UEFA has renewed its scrutiny of Barcelona’s Negreira case after Real Madrid submitted a huge dossier of evidence concerning the club’s historic payments to José María Enríquez Negreira.
UEFA has intensified its examination of Barcelona’s involvement in the Negreira case after Real Madrid submitted an extensive dossier containing tens of thousands of pages of documents and statements.
The European governing body confirmed that its Ethics and Disciplinary Inspectors had received the material and would assess it alongside evidence already gathered in its review of the case involving former Spanish refereeing official José María Enríquez Negreira.
UEFA confirms investigation into Negriera
“UEFA can confirm that it has received from Real Madrid CF a substantial amount of documents related to the ongoing investigation into FC Barcelona in the matter involving José María Enríquez Negreira,” UEFA said in a statement.
“The UEFA Ethics and Disciplinary Inspectors have also received these latest documents, which they will assess as part of their ongoing review of the case.”
The development keeps Barcelona under scrutiny over payments made to companies linked to Negreira, who was vice-president of Spain’s Technical Committee of Referees between 1993 and 2018.
Barcelona has previously maintained that the payments were for technical reports and advice concerning refereeing matters, while Spanish investigators have examined whether the relationship had a broader sporting purpose.
Real Madrid push for sporting consequences
Real Madrid have been among the parties calling for greater scrutiny of the case and have now provided UEFA with a large body of material for its investigators to examine.
The club has sought serious sporting consequences if UEFA concludes that Barcelona breached competition rules, including the possibility of sanctions relating to titles won during the period under investigation.
UEFA, however, has not announced any punishment or concluded that Barcelona committed a sporting offence.
Its latest statement only confirms that the newly submitted material will form part of the ongoing assessment.
The next stage will involve UEFA examining the evidence and potentially seeking further information from Barcelona and other parties before determining whether disciplinary action is warranted.
