MADRID — Real Madrid say they have sent UEFA "evidence of extraordinary gravity" relating to Barcelona's alleged 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." In a statement on Thursday, the club 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, who have repeatedly denied any wrongdoing since the payments originally came to light amid an investigation by tax authorities in 2023, maintain the money was for scouting and technical reports provided by Negreira and his Dasnil 95 company about officials and have strenuously denied allegations the funds were used to bribe referees. Responding on Thursday, the club said UEFA had "not opened any new proceedings" against them, noting proceedings were initiated in 2023 with the appointment of two investigators and "have never been closed," adding "as of today, they have not made any new requests to Barcelona nor have they forwarded Real Madrid's complaint to the club. Should they do so, the club will respond accordingly."
UEFA's investigators decided in June 2023 that Barcelona would not face any punishment and the club has continued to appear in European competition since, while a Barcelona court investigation opened the same year is still ongoing. La Liga president Javier Tebas said in March 2023 the competition "could not take any action" because the case was "time-barred in sports law, but not in criminal law," with Barcelona adding the file "is subject to the outcome of the criminal proceedings taking place in Spain and will remain therein" and that the club has always complied with all requests.