Barcelona has issued a strong response to allegations made by Real Madrid President Florentino Perez, who claimed that he and his club have been unfairly deprived of seven La Liga titles. Following Barcelona’s statement on Tuesday night regarding potential legal action, interim President Rafa Yuste dismissed Perez’s remarks as “pathetic.”
Perez held a lengthy press conference where he asserted that Spanish media had orchestrated a campaign against him and Real Madrid, while deliberately avoiding discussion of his club’s own strategic missteps. When questioned about Perez’s press conference ahead of Barcelona’s match against Alaves on Wednesday, Yuste expressed his disappointment.
“Florentino’s words struck me as pathetic and full of lies. The club already issued a statement yesterday considering legal action, but I want to say that this maneuver by Florentino Perez to cover up a sporting disaster that has been going on for two years will get him nowhere,” Yuste stated to MD. “I watched the press conference afterward, not live, and it didn’t make me laugh or cry. It made me sad. The president is the club’s highest representative, and when he makes statements like that, I consider them pathetic and untrue.”
“Negreira Talk Is Pointless” – Rafa Yuste
Perez also heavily focused on the ongoing corruption case involving Barcelona and former CTA Vice-President Jose Maria Enriquez Negreira. Yuste characterized this as a distraction.
“It’s pointless to talk about Negreira again when we’ve won two league titles with a project featuring players from La Masia and others brought in from elsewhere. We’re winning by 14 points, and this is just a smokescreen to try and justify poor management. We Barça fans are very happy, and nothing will take that away,” Yuste asserted.
Yuste further refuted the notion that Perez’s club had been denied success.
“Seven stolen league titles? That’s completely false. Objectively speaking, it’s not true. He’ll know what he’s doing; we’re going to defend ourselves. We owe it to the fans and the club, and nobody touches the club,” Yuste declared. “We are very happy to have won the League and to have conquered one of the most difficult leagues in the world two years in a row, but I have to say something to Mr. Florentino. If you’ll allow me a bit of irony, Joan Laporta arrives on July 1st, and there’s a Spanish TV series called ‘La que se avecina’ [The one that’s coming] that’s about to happen. We are going to continue fighting to bring more success to this club, so that La Masia is the undisputed cornerstone of our sporting management.”
RFEF President Keen Not to Get Involved
Meanwhile, Rafael Louzan, President of the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF), indicated a desire to remain uninvolved in the dispute.
“The Federation will not get involved in any controversies, and we want Spanish clubs to be at the top. We believe in the work of our referees. What’s best for Real Madrid will be good for Spanish football. But we also want to strengthen the work of our refereeing team; there’s room for improvement, but we believe their work is very good. We will not get involved in any kind of controversy,” Louzan told Cadena SER. “It’s completely in the past, and we ask that the justice system expedite the process so that we can have a verdict on this matter as soon as possible.”
The Negreira case is currently in its trial phase, with evidence and testimonies still being gathered by both the prosecution and the defense, which includes Real Madrid.