Florentino Perez summoned over Barcelona referee claims

Real Madrid president Florentino Perez and FC Barcelona have been summoned to a Madrid court on November 25 for a conciliation hearing before possible criminal defamation proceedings over Perez's comments about Barcelona and referee payments, people close to the case said.

Barcelona launched legal action on June 12 after Perez accused the Catalan club in May of manoeuvring to obtain favourable treatment from referees. The club said it wanted Perez to retract statements it described as knowingly false, defamatory and damaging to its image and reputation.

Barcelona warned that it would file a criminal complaint if the conciliation process failed.

The dispute concerns Perez's comments at a May 12 press conference about the Negreira case. Spanish courts are investigating payments said to be up to 7 million euros over almost two decades by Barcelona to companies linked to Jose Maria Enriquez Negreira, a former vice-president of Spain's refereeing committee, to determine whether they were intended to obtain a competitive advantage.

Barcelona denies wrongdoing and says the payments were for reports on referees. A court dismissed bribery charges against Barcelona in 2024.

Perez described the affair as "the most serious case of corruption in football" and said: "We could never have imagined Barcelona giving money to the head of the referees." He also claimed Real Madrid had been denied league titles, saying: "I've won seven leagues. I could have won twice as many. The others were stolen from me."