RIVALRY BETWEEN BARCELONA AND MADRID TAKES TURN FOR WORSE

Barcelona was formally accused by prosecutors of alleged corruption in sports, fraudulent management and falsification of mercantile documentation....

- CT CONTRIBUTOR

The days of a healthy rivalry between Barcelona and Real Madrid are over. What used to be a cordial relationship between the Spanish powerhouses has turned ugly following the latest scandal involving Barcelona over payments to a former refereeing official. Neither club is holding back, and there is no hiding the relationship has been strained.

“It's damaged,” Barcelona president Joan Laporta said. “We have had an harmonious institutional relationship with all clubs, including Madrid. The ‘clasico’ is the greatest spectacle in the world and there is always an intense rivalry. But to me, the institutional relationship has been harmed because of them." The clubs have been trading direct attacks ever since it became public that Barcelona had paid more than 7 million euros ($7.6 million) over several years for refereeing reports produced by the company of a former vice president of the country’s refereeing committee.