La Liga president Javier Tebas has criticised Real Madrid again for repeatedly attacking Barcelona over the Negreira case. Spanish courts are looking into payments of up to €7 million that Barcelona made over almost twenty years to companies connected to Jose Maria Enriquez Negreira, a former vice-president of Spain’s refereeing committee. The investigation is trying to determine whether these payments were intended to give Barcelona a competitive edge. Barcelona says it did nothing wrong and claims the payments were for referee reports. In 2024, a Spanish court dismissed bribery charges against the club.
Tebas hit back at Real Madrid’s claims, arguing that while the Negreira case must be fully investigated, there is no basis to suggest that the former refereeing official still influences Spanish refereeing today.
“I still think exactly the same about the Negreira case: what happened was extremely serious and must be investigated to the very end. But one thing is to investigate facts that ended years ago, and quite another to build, in 2026, the narrative that Negreira continues to influence Spanish refereeing today. That’s outrageous. And repeating it from Real Madrid TV doesn’t make it true,” Tebas posted on X.
“Let it be taken to the end”: Tebas
Tebas said the judicial process should be allowed to run its course, with the courts examining the evidence and determining whether the payments amounted to sporting corruption. He also questioned calls for La Liga to take action against Barcelona before the case reaches a judicial conclusion, pointing out that the alleged offences are already time-barred under Spanish sporting disciplinary rules.
“Precisely for that reason, a judicial procedure has existed for years: to clarify whether the payments made had an influence on the refereeing system, particularly on referees’ promotions and relegations, and to determine whether those facts may constitute sporting corruption and generate the corresponding criminal liabilities. Let the judges investigate, let all the evidence be examined, and let it be taken to the end.
But, in the meantime, what do some people want? For us to eliminate FC Barcelona and its current leaders from LALIGA’s life? For LALIGA to replace the courts, issue its own verdict, and execute a penalty before there is a judicial resolution? Moreover, in the context of Spanish sporting discipline, the facts are time-barred. This has also been explained many times,” he added.
Tebas reiterated that he has been critical of the Negreira case from the outset, but said there is a difference between investigating the payments and continuing, years later, to suggest that Negreira still has an influence on Spanish refereeing.
“One can be extremely tough on what happened—I have been from the very first moment—and at the same time refuse to accept the poisoning of the narrative that, so many years after those facts ended, Negreira continues to influence Spanish refereeing. That isn’t pursuing the truth. It’s trying to keep a narrative alive,” he concluded.