Real Madrid’s president hopes UEFA “will tackle the issue at its root and resolve the case for the good of world football.”
One of the biggest moments in Florentino Pérez’s press conference came when the Real Madrid president confirmed that the club is finalizing a massive dossier it plans to submit to UEFA over the Negreira case — a scandal he called “the biggest in soccer history.”
Pérez expressed frustration that, nearly three years after the case became public, Spain’s refereeing structure remains unchanged. “They spent two decades making payments, and now in this third decade it’s the same referees,” he said. “We’re going to present a major dossier to UEFA so they can address this at the root and resolve it for the good of world soccer.”
He didn’t hold back on the scale of the issue. “The corruption in the Negreira case has been systemic for two decades,” Pérez insisted. He revealed that the club has already spoken with UEFA and is preparing a roughly 500‑page report.
“People will find out the full story because we’ve got it all under control. There’s really no need to be buying referees,” he scathed, adding that he wasn’t angry or depressed simply because Real Madrid have ended this season without trophies.
“I’ve won ‘only’ seven Champions Leagues and seven league titles – which should have been 14 because the others robbed me of the rest. Who wouldn’t be annoyed about that?! We have put together a video which we will emit, regarding the 18 points which they have taken from us over the course of the season – 18 points! You can watch it on Real Madrid Television. How am I supposed to keep quiet about something like that?
He continued: “There’s no precedent for this in the history of world soccer. How are we supposed to forget the biggest corruption case ever?”
“This is about protecting soccer, not attacking Barcelona”
When asked again about the scandal, Pérez doubled down. “Let’s see if we can be serious, and if UEFA finally steps in — and they will — because they cannot allow Europe’s most important soccer to be under suspicion of corruption paid over 20 years.”
He emphasized that the process will unfold on two fronts: criminal proceedings in Spain and UEFA’s own sporting investigation. “They’ve already agreed to receive the full dossier. We’ll see what happens.”
Pressed on how long the report has been in the works, Pérez revealed that Real Madrid has been compiling evidence for two years. “It’s an accumulation of objective facts. We’re going all the way. This is the most serious corruption case in the history of soccer. It’s for the good of the sport, not to go after Barcelona.”
A project months in the making
The existence of the dossier first surfaced back in September, when Real Madrid TV announced that the club was preparing documentation “so that what’s happening is noted and analyzed.” That announcement came after one of the earliest controversial calls of the season: the red card shown to defender Dean Huijsen in Week 4 against Real Sociedad — a decision the club considered deeply damaging.
