Real Madrid has filed a formal petition with UEFA requesting that FC Barcelona be stripped of titles won during a period when the Catalan club allegedly funneled roughly €7.3 million to entities tied to José María Enríquez Negreira, the former vice president of Spain’s Technical Committee of Referees. The payments reportedly spanned from 2001 to 2018, covering nearly two decades of Spanish football.
What the Negreira case actually involves
The scandal, known in Spain as “Caso Negreira,” centers on undisclosed payments made by FC Barcelona to companies associated with Negreira over a 17-year window. Negreira held a senior position within Spain’s refereeing apparatus until 2018, which is precisely why the payments raise uncomfortable questions.
The core allegation is straightforward: Barcelona may have been paying someone with direct influence over referee assignments and performance evaluations. Whether those payments actually influenced match outcomes is the subject of ongoing judicial inquiries in Spain. Barcelona has maintained the payments were for legitimate consulting services.
Real Madrid’s petition to UEFA specifically targets titles won between 2016 and 2018, the tail end of the payment period. The petition was filed in July 2026, though UEFA has not released any official response.
