Real Madrid has submitted a 'substantial' dossier to UEFA, which they describe as containing 'evidence of extraordinary gravity' concerning payments made by Barcelona to a former vice-president of Spain's referees' committee. The European football governing body confirmed it will assess the documents as part of its ongoing review into the case.
The dossier, reportedly exceeding 50,000 pages, is claimed by Real Madrid to detail evidence that 'directly affects the integrity of the competition and confidence in the refereeing system'. Payments of 8.4m euros (£7.2m) are alleged to have been made by Barcelona to Jose Maria Enriquez Negreira between 2001 and 2018.
Barcelona has consistently denied any wrongdoing since the allegations surfaced in 2023, stating the money was for scouting and technical reports provided by Negreira and his company, Dasnil 95. In a statement on Thursday, Barcelona noted that UEFA had not opened any new proceedings against them, clarifying that existing proceedings initiated in 2023 have never been closed.
UEFA's ethics and disciplinary inspectors are set to 'assess' the submitted documents. A Barcelona court has also been investigating the case since 2023, with that inquiry still ongoing.