Barcelona has issued a strong rebuttal to accusations from Real Madrid President Florentino Perez, who claimed that he and his club have been unfairly deprived of seven La Liga titles. Following their statement on Tuesday night regarding potential legal action, interim Barcelona President Rafa Yuste described Perez’s remarks as ‘pathetic’.
Perez held an extensive press conference, over an hour long, during which he alleged a concerted campaign by the Spanish media against him and Real Madrid, while sidestepping any discussion of the club’s decision-making errors. Speaking to the press ahead of Barcelona’s match against Alaves on Wednesday night, Yuste was questioned about Perez’s conference.
“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, as reported by 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 investigation involving Barcelona and payments made to former CTA Vice-President Jose Maria Enriquez Negreira. Yuste dismissed these comments as a diversionary tactic.
“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 further rejected the notion that Perez’s success had been unjustly hindered.
“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.”
“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), expressed a desire to remain neutral.
“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,” he 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 testimony still being gathered by both the prosecution and the defense, which includes Real Madrid.
