Real Madrid REFUSE to condemn Barcelona in referee scandal

Jacque Talbot

• 22 Feb 2023 17:30 GMT
• 3 min read

Real Madrid have refused to condemn their arch-rivals Barcelona amid the referee scandal that is engulfing the Catalan side and Spanish football in general.

The arbitration scandal which alleges Barca had made payments to referee Enriquez Negreira is at the forefront of discussion in La Liga.

The payments in question which took place between 2016 and 2018 and totalled €1.4m, it is reported. It was in exchange for scouting reports and reports on particular referees.

La Liga president Javier Tebas, called on Joan Laporta to resign if the Barcelona president couldn’t provide a sufficient reason for the payments, while a number of clubs in the country have also been furious at the news.

Even 14 of them released a statement via La Liga, including Atletico Madrid and Sevilla.

It read: "Most of the LaLiga Clubs expressed their deep concern about this case, which they consider to be of the utmost seriousness, for which the proposal for a joint communication received the unanimous support of all LaLiga SmartBank clubs and all LaLiga Santander clubs except for two, who objected to this joint statement for different reasons.

"LaLiga and its Delegate Commission reject and repudiate the facts, and are deeply concerned and actively working to clarify any irregularities that may have occurred around the Negreira case, whether sporting or of any other nature."

' Real remain impartial on Negreira Case'

But indeed Real Madrid remained impartial, despite being huge rivals to Barcelona. The side, who sit second in the La Liga table, would also benefit the most if a sanction would be a points deduction.

It remains to be seen if Barcelona will face punishment - and indeed what that punishment would be.

The so-called 'Negreira Case' has now developed into one of the biggest scandals in Spanish football history - though it is thought that the league may struggle to discipline Barcelona at present as their payments occurred outside the league's statute of limitations.