Miguel Galan, president of Spain’s National Training Centre for Football Coaches, has played down UEFA’s latest move in the Negreira case, saying the receipt of documents from Real Madrid does not amount to the reopening of the investigation.
Real Madrid submitted a file of about 500 pages and called on UEFA to immediately reactivate disciplinary proceedings that the governing body had previously begun. However, according to statements by Galan published by Sport, UEFA has so far only acknowledged receiving the material.
The documents are expected to be assessed by UEFA’s inspectors as part of the investigation already under way. There has been no announcement of a new charge or any decision on the substance of the case.
Galan also pointed to comments from Barcelona, who have maintained that UEFA’s investigation began in 2023 and has never been formally closed. On that basis, he argued that Real Madrid’s submission did not represent a reactivation of the proceedings.
The Spanish official’s assessment centres on the legal time limits governing disciplinary cases. He said Article 80 of Law 10/1990 in Spain established a three-year limitation period for very serious offences.
That led Galan to conclude that the case had become time-barred in Spain in relation to events covered by that legislation.
He applied a similar argument to the proceedings at European level. Galan said there had been no proof of “match-fixing, fraud, bribery or corruption”, meaning the exception that allows such offences to remain outside normal limitation periods could not be used under UEFA’s disciplinary regulations.
In his view, the standard five-year limitation period therefore applies at European level. He claimed that period had expired without valid procedural action being taken to interrupt it, meaning the disciplinary case was also time-barred under UEFA rules.
“The mere receipt of the documents does not prove any of those actions, nor does it in itself allow the limitation period to be bypassed,” Galan said. “Consequently, the proceedings must be declared over when that is required.”
Real Madrid’s submission was made as the club sought to revive UEFA’s disciplinary process, but Galan’s interpretation is that acknowledgement of the documents does not by itself alter the status of the existing investigation or overcome the relevant legal deadlines.
