Barcelona files a complaint against Florentino Perez after a heated Real Madrid press conference, following an official statement.
Florentino Perez has had quite a history with Barcelona in recent years, and now there might be a new chapter, as the Catalan club is thinking about filing a criminal complaint against the Real Madrid president.
Perez first became president of Real Madrid in 2000, promising to bring the world’s best player to the Bernabeu. This meant signing Luis Figo from their big rivals, Barcelona. At the time, it seemed impossible, but he pulled it off, and that transfer is still remembered as one of the most shocking in football history.
Since then, there have been many clashes between Perez and Barcelona, with the latest one sparked by comments he made at a press conference on May 12. Barcelona has already sent a formal warning before moving forward with a lawsuit against Perez, accusing him of slander under article 205 of the Penal Code.
Barcelona said in a statement: “FC Barcelona informs that today, they have submitted a mandatory conciliation claim before filing a criminal complaint for slander against Real Madrid President Florentino Pérez. This is because of statements he made on May 12 and in an interview the next day. The club wants Perez to take back his false and offensive remarks that hurt Barcelona’s image and reputation. If he doesn’t respond properly, Barcelona will move ahead with the legal complaint.”
The controversial comments were about the Negreira case, where Perez claimed he was “robbed of seven La Liga titles.” He also said: “I’ve been here for many seasons, and I’ve only won seven European Cups and seven La Liga titles, which could’ve been 14 if seven weren’t taken from me. Real Madrid fans support me in fighting against Negreira. It’s not always Madrid that suffers; other teams do too. Barça always benefits. We’ll see if UEFA gets involved because they should. I won’t accept being suspected of corruption that lasted over 20 years. Let’s wait and see what happens with UEFA in both criminal and sports matters. I didn’t come here for referees to get rich with Barcelona’s money.”
If Perez ignores Barcelona’s request, the club will go ahead and file the criminal complaint against him.
There were also reports that Barcelona thought about taking legal action against former Real Madrid coach Alvaro Arbeloa, who said similar things to Perez. But after Arbeloa left Real Madrid, the club decided not to continue with those plans.