The Negreira case is once again grabbing headlines in Spanish football, just a day after Real Madrid president Florentino Perez lambasted Barcelona and accused them of being involved in the ‘biggest scandal in history’.
Barcelona have hit back since, but it appears Real Madrid are hell-bent on forcing UEFA to sanction Barça.
They appear to be more reliant and optimistic about UEFA’s power to sanction the Catalans, due to certain nuances in the rules.
Can UEFA really act against Barcelona?
However, a recent report from Mundo Deportivo has explained in detail why it won’t be so easy for UEFA to sanction Barcelona.
The core issue is the statute of limitations. The alleged payments at the centre of the Negreira case ran from 2001 to 2018, with the case only becoming public knowledge in 2023 when Cadena SER broke the story.
Florentino Perez is on the offensive against Barcelona. (Photo by David Ramos/Getty Images)
By that point, the window for any disciplinary action had already closed.
Article 9 of the RFEF Disciplinary Code is explicit on this point. Very serious infractions are subject to a three-year statute of limitations, beginning from the day after the infringement was committed.
Since the last alleged payments were made in 2018 and the case did not emerge publicly until 2023, the limitation period had already expired before any formal process could be initiated.
The same principle applies at the UEFA level. Despite Real Madrid’s optimism surrounding Article 4 of UEFA’s disciplinary regulations, the European body’s own rules are subject to the same statute of limitations framework, meaning UEFA’s hands are effectively tied.
In Spain, neither the CSD nor the RFEF have been able to act for the same reason. UEFA, despite not being bound by national court decisions, cannot bypass the expiry of the disciplinary window.
