Barcelona files legal request against Florentino Perez

Barcelona have filed a request for conciliation against Real Madrid president Florentino Perez over comments on the Negreira case. The filing seeks a retraction of statements the club deems slanderous. Under Spanish law the conciliation stage allows the accused to withdraw or correct remarks before a criminal complaint. Barcelona said they will lodge a criminal complaint if Perez does not retract the remarks. The case is pursued under Article 205 of Spain’s Penal Code, which covers defamation. The club argues that some of Perez’s statements were knowingly false and harmed Barcelona’s reputation. Perez made the disputed comments during a press conference on May 12 and in a media interview on May 13. He described the investigation into payments to former referees’ committee vice‑president Jose Maria Enriquez Negreira as “the biggest scandal in history”. He also claimed that referees from the period under investigation are still officiating and that Madrid are preparing a dossier for UEFA. The comments came shortly after Perez won the Madrid presidential election, beating Enrique Riquelme with 65% of the vote. Perez also called the case an unprecedented case of corruption.