Barcelona have responded to accusations made by Real Madrid President Florentino Perez that he and his club have been ‘robbed’ of seven La Liga titles. Following a statement on Tuesday night that they were considering legal action, interim President Rafa Yuste referred to Perez’s words as ‘pathetic’.
Perez stunned the world with a press conference over an hour long, where he accused the Spanish media of an orchestrated campaign against him and Real Madrid, while refusing to discuss any errors in their decision-making. Ahead of Barcelona’s clash with Alaves on Wednesday night, Yuste was asked about the press 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,” he told 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
Another focus of Perez’s tirade was focused on the as of yet unresolved corruption case against Barcelona, relating to payments made to former CTA Vice-President Jose Maria Enriquez Negreira. Yuste called it a smokescreen.
“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 went on to dismiss the idea that Perez had been done out of 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.”
“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), was keen not to get involved.
“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 remains in its trial phase, with testimony and evidence still being collected by the prosecution and the defence, with the former including Real Madrid.
