In a memorable press conference, Florentino Pérez launched a sweeping attack, and now his archrival FC Barcelona has fired back with a strong response.
Barcelona has released an official statement in reaction to Real Madrid president Florentino Pérez’s explosive press conference. The Catalan club stated that it is considering legal action.
“In relation to the press conference held by Real Madrid president Florentino Pérez, we announce that our legal department is carefully examining his statements and accusations,” the club wrote. “We are evaluating the next steps.”
Barcelona did not specify which parts of Pérez’s hour-long press conference—during which he called for presidential elections and criticized several journalists—they found objectionable.
Pérez claimed that Real Madrid had been cheated out of multiple titles, likely referencing the ongoing Negreira case, a corruption scandal involving Barcelona. He accused Barcelona of benefiting from biased refereeing decisions over many years, pointing to suspicious payments to José María Enríquez Negreira, former vice president of the Spanish refereeing committee, between 2001 and 2018. Pérez called this “the biggest corruption case in football history,” and the case remains under judicial review.
“Real Madrid is not always the one being harmed; other teams also suffer. But Barcelona always benefits,” Pérez said. “I didn’t come here to see referees getting rich with Barcelona’s money. We’ve come away empty-handed this season, and I’ve been here for who knows how many seasons—winning only seven Champions League titles and seven league titles, when it could have been 14, because they were stolen from us.”
