Florentino Perez has had a colourful history with Barcelona in the 21st century, and now there may be another chapter as the Catalan club may be set to make a criminal complaint about the Real Madrid president.
Famously, Perez first became president of Los Blancos in 2000 on the promise that he would bring the best player in the world to the Bernabeu; however, this promise would mean signing Luis Figo from their El Clasico rivals Barcelona.
At the time, it seemed impossible, but he succeeded, and the transfer is now regarded as one of the most shocking moments in the sport's history.
Barcelona fans barrack Luis Figo during the Spanish Primera Liga match against Real Madrid played at the Nou Camp
Barcelona fans barrack Luis Figo during the Spanish Primera Liga match against Real Madrid played at the Nou Camp
Since then, there have been several flashpoints between Perez and the Catalan club, with the latest coming from comments the Real Madrid president made in a press conference on May 12.
Barcelona has already filed a conciliation request prior to formalising a lawsuit against Perez for an alleged crime of slander related to article 205 of the Penal Code.
In a statement the Catalan club said: “FC Barcelona informs that, on this day, the mandatory conciliation claim prior to the filing of a criminal complaint for an offence of slander under Article 205 of the Penal Code has been submitted against the President of Real Madrid, Mr Florentino Pérez, as a result of the statements made by him at the press conference held on 12 May and in an interview with a media outlet the following day.
“The purpose of this claim is for Mr Pérez to retract certain statements that he made with knowledge of their falsity and which are slanderous and offensive to the image and reputation of the Club.
“Should this claim not be duly addressed, FC Barcelona will proceed with the filing of the corresponding criminal complaint.”
The comments in question from the press conference on May 12 refer to the Negreira case in which he made an accusation that he had been ‘robbed of seven La Liga titles’.
Perez
Perez
Further comments from Perez included: “I've been here for I don't know how many seasons, and I've only won seven European Cups and seven La Liga titles, which could have been 14 because seven of them were stolen from me.
“The Madrid members are with me in my fight against Negreira. It's not always Madrid that suffers; other teams do. Barça always benefits. Let's see if UEFA gets involved in this matter, because they will. It can't be that I'm under suspicion of corruption, paid for over 20 years. Let's see what happens in both the criminal and sporting aspects with UEFA.
“I didn't come here so that referees could get rich off Barcelona's money.”
If Perez does not heed the demands of Barcelona in this conciliation request, the Catalan club will proceed to file a criminal complaint against the president of Real Madrid.
It was also reported by Mundo Deportivo the Blaugrana club had considered extending the legal action to former Real Madrid manager Alvaro Arbeloa, who echoed Perez's sentiments; however, following his dismissal from Los Blancos, they have decided not to proceed with it.