Real wanted another six months. Judge refuses to extend Negreira investigation

Real Madrid requested a further six-month extension to the investigative phase of the Negreira case. The prosecution supported the club’s application, but the judge overseeing the proceedings decided that another extension was unnecessary. Barcelona can breathe a little more easily, although opening the champagne would be wildly premature. The case has not been closed.

REAL WANTED MORE TIME

The judge at Barcelona’s Investigating Court No. 1 rejected Real Madrid’s request to extend the investigation for another six months. The existing deadline expired on 1 September, with the Madrid club seeking additional time on the basis of findings produced by the Guardia Civil.

Real argued that the investigation had uncovered direct and circumstantial evidence pointing to the possible commission of a continuing offence of sporting corruption. The prosecution backed the request, but that was not enough to persuade the judge.

After several years of proceedings, even the calendar appears to have decided that another six months would not automatically resolve everything that had remained unresolved until now.

NOVEMBER WITNESS HEARINGS WILL STILL TAKE PLACE

The refusal to extend the investigation does not mean the file will be closed immediately. Two witness hearings remain scheduled for November. Former Barcelona player and reserve-team coach Gerard López is expected to testify, along with a reserve-team delegate identified by AS as Antonio A.

The judge explained that both hearings had been ordered before the existing deadline expired. They can therefore take place later without requiring the entire investigative phase to be formally extended.

The position is similar regarding further investigative measures requested by Real Madrid. The judge previously rejected them, and the matter is now being considered by the Barcelona Provincial Court. If the appeal court rules in Real’s favour, those measures could still be carried out after the deadline.

THE DEADLINE HAS EXPIRED, BUT THE CASE HAS NOT

That distinction matters. The judge has not cleared Barcelona of wrongdoing, dismissed the proceedings or ruled that the club committed no offence. She has only rejected the request for another six months of investigation.

The case concerns €7.3 million that Barcelona allegedly paid between 2001 and 2018 to José María Enríquez Negreira and his son Javier. Negreira was serving as vice-president of Spain’s Technical Committee of Referees during that period.

Barcelona maintain that the payments covered reports and consultancy work relating to referees. Investigators have long been trying to determine whether this was a genuine service or a considerably more expensive way of learning which referee was particularly fond of reaching for his cards.

BARCELONA HAVE RECEIVED RELIEF, NOT EXONERATION

The decision is favourable to Barcelona because Real Madrid have not been granted the additional time they requested. It does not fundamentally change the club’s legal position. Two witness hearings remain in the diary, the appeal court could still authorise further investigative measures and no final decision has been taken on how the case will proceed.

The Negreira affair has therefore produced another outcome perfectly suited to its history: the formal deadline has passed, but the case itself continues. Barcelona have not won anything yet. Real have simply not been given another six months to look for more answers.

Source: AS/EFE