Case centres on more than €7m paid by Barcelona to companies linked to the former vice-president of Spain’s referees’ committee
Xabi Alonso has called for answers on Barcelona’s Negreira scandal, saying Spanish football needs clarity and guilty parties need to face the consequences.
The Real Madrid head coach supported comments made by club president Florentino Perez 0n Monday, in which he described the Negreira affair as “the biggest scandal in the history of football”.
“We share the position of the club and the president,” Alonso said. “The most important thing is that for the good of football, we need to find out the truth of what happened.”
The case centres on more than €7m paid by Barcelona between 2001 and 2018 to companies linked to Jose Maria Enriquez Negreira, the former vice-president of Spain’s referees’ committee. A criminal investigation has been under way for more than two years and a judge is now expected to decide whether the case proceeds to a full trial.
Barcelona president Joan Laporta gave evidence on Friday, along with former Barcelona coaches Luis Enrique and Ernesto Valverde. Laporta has maintained that the payments were for technical reports on referees and has denied any attempt to influence match officials.
However, Perez has launched an attack on Spanish football’s refereeing structure, claiming the Negreira case exposed systemic failures and calling for “radical change”. He also suggested clubs may have been unfairly relegated as a consequence of the situation.
Alonso said the lack of visible consequences had raised eyebrows beyond Spain.
“We’re all human and make mistakes,” said Alonso. “But here, there was a case that needs to be investigated. Abroad, what happened here really surprises people, that there’ve been no consequences, or responsibility [taken]. That’s why it’s very important to find out what happened. It isn’t normal, and it can’t be taken as normal.”
