Spanish courts are investigating payments said to be up to 7 million euros made 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. FILE: Real Madrid President Florentino Perez (R) shakes hands with Barcelona's German coach Hans-Dieter Flick at the end of the Spanish Super Cup final football match between Real Madrid and Barcelona at the King Abdullah Sport City in Jeddah on January 12, 2025. (Photo by Haitham AL-SHUKAIRI / AFP)Real Madrid president Florentino Perez and FC Barcelona have been summoned to appear before a Madrid court on November 25 for a conciliation hearing ahead of possible criminal proceedings for defamation against Perez, sources close to the case said on Monday.The hearing follows legal action launched by Barcelona on June 12 over comments made by Perez in May accusing the Catalan club of manoeuvring to obtain favourable treatment from referees.Barcelona said its action was intended to force Perez to retract statements it described as knowingly false, defamatory and damaging to the club's image and reputation.It warned that if the conciliation process failed, it would file a criminal complaint.The dispute centres on comments Perez made at a May 12 press conference concerning the so-called N...
This page contains an attributed headline and the preview text supplied through the publisher’s RSS feed. Copyright in the original reporting belongs to Citizen Digital.
