Official: Real Madrid take decision to appear against Barcelona in Negreira case

Barcelona have been one of the best-performing teams in 2023 so far, with a total of 14 wins in 19 competitive matches.

But off the pitch, it has been a terrible year for the Catalans. If their ongoing war with the Financial Fair Play regulation and by extension, La Liga, was not enough, the club have found itself to be the main accused of an investigation that has revealed the Enriquez Negreira payoff scandal.

The scandal involved payments worth up to €7 million to Negreira for insights regarding refereeing and even included result manipulations.

In the aftermath of the investigations and subsequent charges from the Prosecutor’s office in Spain, the club’s main rival Real Madrid have come up with an official statement, confirming their participation against Barcelona in the legal proceedings.

“Real Madrid expresses its deep concern about the seriousness of the facts and reiterates its full confidence in the action of justice and has agreed that, in defense of its legitimate interests, it will appear in the procedure as soon as the judge opens it to the parties harmed,” the statement read.

This came just a day after the club released a statement, where president Florentino Perez called for a meeting of the Board of Directors about the issue, leaving Barcelona attentive to the situation.

Real Madrid’s involvement in the legal proceedings could raise animosity between two clubs that share a rich and historic rivalry. It will also raise the stakes when the two teams take each other on in La Liga next weekend.