Barcelona confirmed that they have taken the first steps to file a lawsuit against Real Madrid President Florentino Perez.
Last month, the club announced that it was considering a legal action after Peres’ press conferencein which he made a series of explosive statements.
For Barcelona, Perez raised the Negreira case, an ongoing investigation into payments totaling more than €7 million made by Barca to José María Enriquez Negreira, the former vice-president of the refereeing committee of the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF), between 2001 and 2018.
Peres called this case “the biggest scandal in history.”
He added: “It’s a case that remains unresolved and is still ongoing. Because it’s not just Madrid that suffered and Barca won – although Barca always won.”
In a statement released on FridayBarcelona said: “FC Barcelona informs that today a mandatory conciliation action pending the filing of a criminal complaint for defamation under Article 205 of the Criminal Code has been filed against the president of Real Madrid, Mr. Florentino Perez, as a result of statements made by him at a press conference on May 12 and in an interview with the media the following day.”
“The purpose of this claim is for Mr. Perez to retract certain statements that he made, knowing them to be false and that are defamatory and offensive to the image and reputation of the club.
“If this claim is not properly investigated, FC Barcelona will continue to file the appropriate criminal case.”