Madrid’s Legal Move in the Negreira Case: Laporta Under Cross-Examination
12 December 2025
Update in the Negreira Case
On Friday, Barcelona president Joan Laporta testified in a case accusing the Catalan club of paying bribes to the former vice president of the Spanish refereeing committee, Jose Negreira.
Some time after the case opened, Real Madrid decided to join the proceedings as a private prosecutor, examining the purpose of the payments Barca made to Negreira over 17 years.
Florentino Pérez, the Real Madrid president, had stated in the latest two general assemblies that Madrid would see the case through to the end and demand accountability if Barcelona's actions were shown to have influenced refereeing decisions.
According to the Spanish newspaper AS, Real Madrid participated directly in the trial through its lawyers, who questioned Laporta during his testimony.
One question concerned the staggering 800% rise in payments, then they turned to the role of Negreira's son in reports that were never published, while the claimed job's pay came from another source.
Madrid’s lawyers also pressed why the Catalan club kept payments from tax authorities, asking for the source of these funds and arguing that Barca’s initial justification differed from what reports suggested.
