What is FC Barcelona’s Negreira case, and what are the charges?

EXPLAINERWhat is FC Barcelona’s Negreira case, and what are the charges?Real Madrid accuse Barcelona of paying former refereeing official Jose Maria Enriquez Negreira between 2001 and 2018.Real Madrid have urged UEFA to conclude its ongoing investigation into the Negreira case with “utmost urgency” after European football’s governing body confirmed receiving a dossier from them on Thursday.The case pertains to Barcelona football club allegedly paying millions of dollars to the company of Jose Maria Enriquez Negreira, the former vice president of Spanish football’s refereeing committee, between 2001 and 2018, to try to influence referee decisions.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemslist 1 of 4Protests disrupt Ireland football match with ‘Palestine tennis balls’list 2 of 4Who is Man City whistleblower Rui Pinto and what has become of him?list 3 of 4Manchester City to launch appeal as financial breach fallout growslist 4 of 4Manchester City breaches need tax implication answers, UK Parliament toldend of listBarcelona have denied any wrongdoing or conflict of interest and said they paid him for reports and advice related to refereeing.Thursday’s statement by UEFA was the latest update in its investigation into the payments opened in 2023, while there is an ongoing Spanish criminal case as well.Here’s everything you need to know about the case:What is the Real Madrid vs Barcelona Negreira case?Barcelona allegedly paid more than 7.3 million euros ($7.95m) between 2001 and 2018 to firms owned by Negreira, who was vice president of the refereeing committee of the Spanish football association from 1993-2018.In March 2023, Spanish prosecutors formally charged Barcelona as well as two of the club’s former presidents, Josep Maria Bartomeu and Sandro Rosell, and Negreira and his son, Javier Enriquez Negreira, with corruption over the affair.Barcelona was accused of corruption in sports, fraudulent management and the falsification of mercantile documentation; it denies any wrongdoing and says the payments were made for technical refereeing reports.