FC Barcelona and Real Madrid President Florentino Pérez Face Legal Hearing

The legal dispute between Real Madrid and FC Barcelona has escalated with a scheduled conciliation hearing involving Florentino Pérez, the president of Real Madrid. This hearing is a response to a slander lawsuit filed by FC Barcelona following comments made by Pérez during a press conference in May. The hearing is set for November 25 at 9:40 a.m. in courtroom 1/2 of the Madrid courts.

Barcelona seeks a retraction from Pérez regarding his remarks. The outcome of the hearing will be crucial; if Pérez does not attend or fails to retract his statements, Barcelona has indicated plans to file a criminal complaint. This development threatens to further intensify the institutional conflict between the two clubs.

Barça remains outraged by Pérez's comments, which they deem defamatory and designed to undermine the club. In response to the corruption allegations surrounding the Negreira case, Pérez stated, "The corruption in the Negreira case is systemic. It is the biggest scandal in history... How are we going to forget the biggest case of corruption there has been in history?" He stressed that UEFA must take action to address the allegations affecting European football.

Vice President Rafael Yuste also expressed anger at Pérez’s comments, asserting that they threaten the reputation of Barcelona and promising that the club would take necessary actions to defend its integrity. In June, Barcelona announced they had filed the mandatory conciliation claim, stating that Pérez's remarks were false, slanderous, and damaging to the club's reputation. Failure to rectify the statements would lead Barça to file a criminal complaint.