Barcelona announced on Thursday that it has filed a conciliation request against Real Madrid president Florentino Pérez, a procedural step that precedes a lawsuit for alleged slander. The Catalan club is demanding that Pérez retract comments he made regarding the ongoing Negreira case, arguing that the statements were false and damaging to Barcelona’s reputation.
The dispute stems from remarks made by Pérez in May, when the Real Madrid president discussed his tenure at the club and suggested that
Madrid could have won significantly more league titles under different circumstances.
During his comments, Pérez stated that although he had won seven La Liga titles as president, the total could have been fourteen because the other seven had effectively been “stolen.” The remarks were widely interpreted as a reference to the Negreira case and allegations surrounding Barcelona’s payments to former vice-president of Spain’s Technical Committee of Referees, José María Enríquez Negreira.
Barcelona initially responded cautiously, with vice-president Rafa Yuste indicating that the club would review Pérez’s comments before deciding whether legal action was appropriate. Following further internal discussions and legal consultations, the club has now formally moved forward.
If the conciliation process does not produce a satisfactory outcome, Barcelona has indicated that it is prepared to escalate the matter by filing a criminal complaint.
Barcelona’s Official Statement
Barcelona released the following statement explaining its decision:
“FC Barcelona reports that today it has filed the required conciliation request prior to filing a lawsuit for the crime of slander under Article 205 of the Penal Code against the President of Real Madrid, Mr. Florentino Pérez, as a result of the statements made by him at the press conference on May 12 and in an interview with a media outlet the following day.
The objective of this lawsuit is for Mr. Pérez to retract certain statements he made knowing them to be false, statements that are slanderous and offensive to the image and reputation of the Club.
Should this demand not be properly addressed, FC Barcelona will proceed to file the corresponding criminal complaint.”
