Barcelona say they have opened proceedings against Real Madrid president Florentino Perez over allegedly “slanderous” comments he made about the so-called Negreira case.The Catalan club said in a statement on Friday that they have filed a request for conciliation, which allows the defendant — Perez, in this case — to retract his statement before full legal proceedings begin. Barcelona said if Perez does not retract what he said, they will file a criminal complaint against him.The Athletic has approached Real Madrid for comment.Barca say the filing, under Article 205 of Spain’s Penal Code, was brought against Perez as “a result of the statements made by him at the press conference on May 12 and in an interview with a media outlet the following day”.The statement added: “The objective of this lawsuit is for Mr. Perez to retract certain statements he made knowing them to be false, statements that are slanderous and offensive to the image and reputation of the club.”Perez gave a press conference on May 12 which, among other issues, he called for fresh presidential elections at the club. The 79-year-old was subsequently re-elected with 65 per cent of the vote over challenger Enrique Riquelme, in the club’s first such elections in 20 years.Perez — who was unchallenged over the previous five electoral cycles, held in 2009, 2013, 2017, 2021 and 2025 — also made a series of other comments at that press conference.This included speaking on the investigation into payments totalling €8.4million (£7.2m; $9.8m) made by Barcelona to former Spanish referees committee vice-president Jose Maria Enriquez Negreira.“We have discovered that for the past three years we have been facing an unprecedented case of corruption, the biggest scandal in history: the Negreira case,” Perez said.“The referees from that era are still officiating in competitions such as La Liga. We are going to compile a comprehensive dossier to present to UEFA so that they can nip this in the bud.“The CTA (referees’ technical committee) president says it’s something we should forget. We’re putting together a 500-page dossier that we’ll send out as soon as the season ends.”That evening, Barca issued a statement in response to Perez’s speech in which they said the club’s legal department was “carefully studying his words and accusations” before “deciding which are the next steps to take”.Jun 12, 2026Connections: Sports EditionSpot the pattern. Connect the termsFind the hidden link between sports terms