Real Madrid urge UEFA to speed up investigation into Barcelona’s Negreira case

Real Madrid have formally escalated their involvement in the Negreira case, calling on UEFA to bring its investigation into payments made to former Spanish refereeing official Jose Maria Enriquez Negreira to a swift conclusion.

The club said UEFA had acknowledged receipt of its complaint, along with a substantial collection of documents and evidence submitted as part of the case. Real Madrid described the material as relating to “extremely serious” events that directly affect the integrity of competition and confidence in the refereeing system.

In a statement issued on Thursday, Real Madrid said the investigation should now continue “with the utmost speed” and be completed in full. The club added that the relevant authorities should take whatever decisions they consider appropriate in light of the seriousness of the facts under examination.

UEFA has confirmed that it received a large volume of documents supplied by Real Madrid in relation to the Negreira investigation. The material has also been passed to its ethics and disciplinary inspectors, who will assess it as part of the ongoing review.

The case concerns payments received by Negreira, who was previously vice-president of Spain’s Technical Committee of Referees. Real Madrid’s latest intervention places renewed focus on the matter within UEFA, after the European governing body had followed the case in previous years.

Real Madrid said it would continue to co-operate actively with UEFA and would take all measures within its authority to clarify events that the club believes are incompatible with the principles that should govern European football.

The club identified those principles as integrity, transparency and fair play, underlining its intention to continue pursuing the matter at European level.

UEFA inspectors are currently studying the new documents submitted by Real Madrid. The continuation of the investigation does not mean that Barcelona have been sanctioned, with any next step dependent on the conclusions reached by the relevant UEFA bodies after examining the evidence and hearing from the parties involved.