Real Madrid president Florentino Pérez has made a sensational claim that the club was “robbed” of seven LaLiga titles, directly linking the alleged injustices to Barcelona’s payments to former referees’ chief José María Enríquez Negreira. Pérez announced the club would submit a comprehensive report to UEFA detailing these alleged instances of corruption.
The declaration comes as the Negreira case continues to cast a shadow over Spanish football, involving Barcelona’s €8.4 million in payments to Negreira over a 17-year period. Pérez publicly contrasted Real Madrid’s domestic and European success, stating, “I’ve won seven Champions Leagues and only seven LaLiga titles. It could have been 14, but they were stolen from me.”
Real Madrid’s head coach, Álvaro Arbeloa, echoed Pérez’s sentiments, asserting that “we all know what has happened for more than twenty years.” Arbeloa emphasized the club’s desire for resolution in a case where the number two of the refereeing body was paid by a football club, calling it “clearly neither legal nor makes any sense.” He further added, “It’s unbelievable that only Real Madrid wants to defend legality in football.”
Examining the ‘stolen’ campaigns
The club has meticulously compiled and documented seven LaLiga campaigns where they lost the title by narrow margins, ranging from one to four points. These campaigns, revealed by AS, highlight specific refereeing patterns and decisions that Real Madrid believes unfairly tilted the balance.
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The 2004/05 season, the first after Ángel María Villar’s re-election as Spanish FA president with support from then-Barcelona president Joan Laporta, is a key focus. Real Madrid contends that refereeing decisions during this period favored Barcelona as a “reward” for this political alignment. Statistics from that season include:
- Barcelona was awarded 10 penalties, double Real Madrid’s total of 5.
- Barcelona received two red cards, compared to Real Madrid’s five.
- Barcelona’s opponents saw six red cards, twice as many as Real Madrid’s opponents, who saw three.
- Barcelona players accumulated 78 yellow cards, while Real Madrid had 97.
- Barcelona’s opponents were booked 104 times, against Real Madrid’s rivals 81.
Other seasons cited in Real Madrid’s report include:
- 2009/10: Barcelona finished three points ahead of Real Madrid. Grievances arose from refereeing decisions in crucial draws and losses at El Sadar, San Mamés, and the Sánchez-Pizjuán.
- 2010/11: Barcelona won the league by four points. Refereeing was a point of contention in scoreless draws at Almería and Deportivo La Coruña, and notably in the Clásico at the Bernabéu where Raúl Albiol was sent off.
- 2015/16: Barcelona secured the title by a single point. In this campaign, Barcelona was awarded 19 penalties, while Real Madrid received nine. Conversely, Barcelona conceded only one spot-kick, compared to Real Madrid’s four.
- 2020/21: Incidents included a decisive penalty awarded against Éder Militão against Sevilla, moments after a penalty for Karim Benzema was initially given and then reversed.
- 2024/25: Real Madrid’s seven-point lead over Barcelona evaporated, with controversial decisions such as a dangerous challenge on Kylian Mbappé that went unpunished against Espanyol, and a penalty awarded against Aurélien Tchouaméni in the derby following a VAR intervention.
The submission of this extensive report to UEFA signals Real Madrid’s intent to pursue its claims on an international stage, further escalating the fallout from the Negreira scandal.
Sources: en.as.com, www.realmadrid.com
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