Javier Tebas addresses Barcelona role in Negreira case – “They did not pay referees”

La Liga president Javier Tebas has moved to clarify Barcelona’s position in the long-running Negreira case, insisting the Catalan club “did not pay referees,” amid ongoing scrutiny over payments made to former refereeing official José María Enríquez Negreira.

Speaking to Sport, Tebas defended the league’s actions since the scandal first emerged over three years ago, emphasizing that La Liga was the first entity to bring the matter to the prosecutor’s office. “We are in a state of law and the rules are what they are,” Tebas stated. “We were the first to go to the prosecutor’s office, it was not Real Madrid, and we have continued to agree with the law.”

The case centers on payments made by Barcelona to Negreira during his tenure as vice-president of the Technical Committee of Referees (CTA). While the club maintains its innocence, the investigation has yet to reach a resolution more than two years after being taken up by the Prosecutor’s Office.

Tebas also addressed the legal complexities surrounding the case, pointing to the current statute of limitations under Spanish sports law. “There is a statute of limitations three years after the facts. I have advocated that the statutes of limitations for this type of crime be many more years,” he said.

The La Liga chief rejected claims that referees were influenced by the payments, specifically refuting suggestions that officiating decisions—such as a penalty not awarded to Vinícius Júnior in Pamplona—were linked to the Negreira affair. “To say that referees were bought… I am absolutely against it, because it is not like that,” Tebas asserted.

While Real Madrid has played an active role in the proceedings, Tebas emphasized the importance of separating sporting sanctions from criminal accountability. “The facts have to be judged, they are being judged and the justice system in the criminal field is going to decide what there is,” he concluded.

With no resolution in sight, Barcelona, Real Madrid, and Spanish football’s governing bodies remain in a holding pattern as the legal process continues.