Barcelona chief Yuste fires back at Real Madrid: 'Florentino's words seemed pathetic and designed to cover up poor sports management'

"The Negreira case is an ongoing investigation centred around payments of €7million made by Barca to companies linked to José María Enríquez Negreira, the former vice-president of the Spanish referees' committee (CTA), between 2001 and 2018. Madrid believe they led to on-field decisions in favour of Barcelona. Barca insist there was no wrongdoing and claim the payments were made to Negreira to act as a consultant on the technical aspects of refereeing."

"Perez did not hold back, claiming it was "the biggest case of corruption in history". He said: "The corruption in the Negreira case is systemic. That we have to listen to the president of the CTA claiming these are things that must be forgotten. But why must they be forgotten? We are making a 500-page dossier that we are going to send to UEFA."

""There are no precedents in the history of world football. How are we going to forget the biggest case of corruption that has happened in history. It is incomprehensible that we continue to see referees of that time in a competition like La Liga.""

"Barcelona interim president Rafa Yuste has dismissed Florentino Perez's claims relating to the Negreira case as "pathetic" and says his Real Madrid counterpart is looking for excuses to disguise "poor sports management"."

Barcelona interim president Rafa Yuste rejected Florentino Perez’s statements about the Negreira case, describing them as pathetic and suggesting Perez is looking for excuses to mask poor sports management. Perez had criticized Barcelona at a hastily arranged press conference, blaming multiple parties for Real Madrid’s current problems while focusing on the Negreira case. The case centers on Barcelona’s payments of about €7 million to companies linked to José María Enríquez Negreira, a former vice-president of the Spanish referees’ committee, between 2001 and 2018. Real Madrid believes the payments influenced on-field decisions in Barcelona’s favor, while Barcelona says there was no wrongdoing and that the payments were for consulting on technical refereeing aspects. Perez said a 500-page dossier would be sent to UEFA.

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