Spanish giants Barcelona have officially begun legal proceedings against Real Madrid president Florentino Pérez over comments he made regarding the club’s alleged involvement in the Negreira case.
The move comes after Pérez accused Barcelona of benefiting from refereeing decisions and suggested that the Catalan club had “stolen” titles from Real Madrid with the help of match officials.
In a statement released by the club, Barcelona confirmed that it has initiated the first legal step required before filing a lawsuit for slander under Article 205 of the Spanish Penal Code. The action relates to remarks Pérez made during a press conference on May 12 and in a media interview the following day.
Barcelona maintains that Pérez’s allegations are false and damaging to the club’s reputation. While insisting that the objective is not to harm the Real Madrid president, the club is demanding that he retract the statements.
“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 statement read.
“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.”
Pérez, however, has previously dismissed the prospect of legal action and reaffirmed his criticism of Barcelona over the Negreira affair.
“Barça would do well to sue me. If they think they should, let them do it,” Pérez said.
