Barcelona president Joan Laporta says the club’s relationship with Real Madrid has been “broken” after he accused the Spanish giants of intervening in the Negreira case.
The dispute centres on payments made by Barcelona to a former vice-president of the Technical Committee of Referees. Barcelona maintains that the money was for refereeing reports, while Real Madrid believes the payments were intended to influence officials.
“Our relations with Real Madrid are broken – they intervened in the Negreira case,” Laporta said.
Real Madrid president Florentino Perez has repeatedly made allegations against Barcelona in connection with the case. In response, Barcelona filed a defamation lawsuit.
It was previously reported that Perez had been summoned to court following Barcelona’s legal action. The Catalan club is seeking an apology and the withdrawal of the statements attributed to him.
If those demands are not met, an investigation will begin as part of criminal proceedings.