Barcelona and Florentino Perez Set for Court Hearing Over Negreira Remarks
Barcelona and Real Madrid’s boardroom conflict is set to move into court on November 25, when a Madrid court will hold a conciliation hearing involving Barcelona and Real Madrid president Florentino Pérez over remarks connected to the Negreira investigation.
Barcelona have sought the hearing after Pérez accused the club of benefiting from what he described as systemic corruption in Spanish football. The Catalan club want a formal withdrawal of those comments and have indicated that they will file a criminal slander complaint if Pérez does not attend the hearing or declines to retract the allegations.
Dispute centres on Negreira allegations
The case stems from statements made by Pérez at a May press conference, when he addressed the payments linked to José María Enríquez Negreira, the former vice-president of Spain’s refereeing committee, the CTA.
Pérez characterised the affair as “the greatest scandal in history” and argued that its implications should not be set aside. He said Madrid supporters backed his stance on the matter and claimed that Barcelona had been the beneficiary while Real Madrid and other clubs had suffered.
He also suggested that the controversy had affected the distribution of domestic honours. Reflecting on his time as Madrid president, Pérez said he had won seven Champions Leagues and seven league titles, adding that the club could have had 14 La Liga crowns because seven had been “stolen”.
Barcelona viewed the remarks as a direct attack on the club’s integrity, honours and sporting record. The club believe the comments amount to an accusation of fraudulent conduct and theft, prompting its move for judicial action.
Barcelona prepared to escalate legal action
In June, Barcelona confirmed that it had submitted the compulsory conciliation request required before bringing a complaint under Article 205 of the Spanish Penal Code, which concerns slander.
The club said its aim was to secure a retraction of statements that it maintained Pérez made while knowing them to be false. Barcelona added that, should the demand not be properly met, it would lodge the corresponding criminal complaint.
Vice-president Rafael Yuste accused Pérez of using the issue to unsettle Barcelona. Yuste said the club would defend its name and badge in court, describing Pérez’s intervention as an attempt to destabilise the team and calling the comments “pathetic”.
Pérez cites UEFA contact
Pérez has said Real Madrid are preparing a 500-page dossier for UEFA and that he has already spoken to European football’s governing body about the matter.
The Real Madrid president argued that the alleged conduct had no equivalent in world football and said UEFA should not allow European football to remain affected by corruption which, in his view, had been paid for over 20 years.
The November hearing will determine whether the two clubs can resolve the dispute at the conciliation stage. If no agreement is reached, Barcelona have made clear that Pérez could face a criminal slander complaint, taking one of Spanish football’s longest-running rivalries into a new legal phase.
