Florentino Perez (foto: Getty Images)
Real Madrid president Florentino Pérez has once again attacked Barcelona over the Negreira case, calling it the biggest scandal in football history and criticising Spanish institutions.
Florentino Pérez once again set Spanish football alight with a strongly worded intervention, using Real Madrid’s traditional Christmas ceremony to relaunch his criticism of Barcelona and the ongoing Negreira case.
The Real Madrid president devoted a significant portion of his speech to refereeing standards and institutional responsibility, describing the Negreira affair as the most serious scandal in the history of sport.
“Real Madrid were left alone”
“Real Madrid’s greatest concern is the state of refereeing,” Pérez said. “What happened for almost two decades in the Negreira case demands justice. It is incomprehensible that institutions have left Real Madrid alone in this fight.”
Pérez was particularly critical of the Spanish FA (RFEF) and LaLiga, suggesting they failed to act decisively despite the gravity of the allegations surrounding payments made by Barcelona to companies linked to former refereeing official José María Enríquez Negreira.
“How can we forget?”
The Real Madrid president reacted angrily to calls from within Spanish football to move on from the case.
“How is it possible that the head of the referees’ committee asks us to forget this?” Pérez asked. “How can we forget the biggest scandal in the history of football?”
According to Pérez, the integrity of domestic competition has been seriously compromised, regardless of whether criminal responsibility is ultimately proven.
Financial questions remain unresolved
Pérez also highlighted the financial aspect of the affair, which continues to raise questions.
“We know that more than eight million euros were paid for so-called technical refereeing reports,” he said. “And yet coaches never received those reports. Who can seriously believe this was a legitimate service?”
The remarks underline Real Madrid’s determination to keep the Negreira case in the public eye, at a time when legal proceedings are ongoing and Spanish football is attempting to protect its international credibility.
Whether Pérez’s renewed offensive will force stronger institutional responses remains to be seen, but his message was unmistakable: Real Madrid will not let the Negreira affair fade quietly.