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Florentino Perez, President of Real Madrid, and representatives of Barcelona have been summoned to appear before a court in Madrid on November 25, for a judicial conciliation session, following Perez's defamation allegations against the Catalan club.
According to Marca, on Monday, the session will be held at 09:40 local time in courtrooms 1 and 2 in Madrid, due to Barcelona's demand for Perez to retract statements he made earlier, which the club considered offensive to its image and reputation.
The conciliation session aims to give both parties a chance to settle the dispute before resorting to criminal court, as Barcelona has confirmed it will file a criminal complaint against Perez if he does not comply with their demand to retract those statements.
The case dates back to June 12, when Barcelona filed for judicial conciliation, in preparation for filing a defamation lawsuit, due to statements made by Perez during a press conference on May 12 and a media interview the following day, in which he accused the Catalan club of benefiting from referee corruption and receiving preferential treatment from referees.
The dispute centers around the Negreira case, in which Spanish judicial authorities are investigating payments exceeding 7 million euros made by Barcelona over the years to companies linked to Jose Maria Enriquez Negreira, former vice president of the Technical Committee of Referees in Spain, to determine whether they were intended to influence refereeing decisions and give the club a competitive advantage.
Barcelona denies any wrongdoing, asserting that the payments were for technical reports and analyses related to referees, while the court in 2024 dismissed the bribery charge against the club.
Perez described the case as 'the most serious corruption case in football,' adding, 'We never imagined that Barcelona would pay money to referee chiefs.'
The Real Madrid president also claimed that his team was deprived of several La Liga titles, saying, 'I won seven league titles, and I could have won twice as many, but the other titles were stolen from me.'
In its statement on June 12, Barcelona explained that the judicial conciliation request aims to demand Perez retract statements it described as made knowingly false, which it considers defamatory and offensive to the club's image and reputation.
The club added that it will file the appropriate criminal complaint, based on Article 205 of the Spanish Penal Code, if its demand is not met during the conciliation process.
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