Real Madrid Asks UEFA to Punish Barcelona Over Referee Payments Scandal

Real Madrid has formally written to UEFA, asking the governing body to take strong and immediate disciplinary action against Barcelona over historic payments the club made to a former vice president of Spain's refereeing committee.

The case centers on more than 7 million euros that Barcelona paid through various companies to Jose Maria Enriquez Negreira between 2001 and 2018. Barcelona has always said the money was payment for technical reports on referees and refereeing, and has denied that it was paying for favorable treatment from match officials.

In its letter, Madrid argues that the payments point to a pattern of improper influence over Spain's refereeing body, something it says threatens the basic fairness of competitions and goes against the principles of equal treatment and unpredictable outcomes that sport depends on. Madrid is asking UEFA to restart the disciplinary case it opened back in 2023, when the payments first came to light and UEFA's ethics and disciplinary officials said they would look into a possible breach of the organization's rules. There has been no public update from UEFA on that case since.

UEFA, asked to respond to Madrid's letter, declined to comment, saying only that its disciplinary bodies work independently and that it does not discuss ongoing or possible cases.

The payments are also being looked into separately by Spanish courts.

Madrid's push for UEFA action comes at a time when relations between the two Spanish giants have grown noticeably worse. The clubs had been working together on the breakaway European Super League project, and that partnership had kept an uneasy peace between them, but that arrangement collapsed earlier this year and tensions between the clubs have grown since.

Real Madrid president Florentino Perez added to that tension in May, calling the Negreira case the biggest scandal in football history and claiming Madrid had missed out on as many as seven LaLiga titles because of it. Barcelona responded by threatening legal action, filing a formal claim aimed at starting a criminal slander case against Perez and demanding he withdraw the comments.