Following Real Madrid’s announcement confirming that they had submitted a dossier to UEFA concerning Barcelona's alleged involvement in the Negreira case, the Catalan club has now issued an official response.

In their formal statement, Barcelona revealed that they have written to the presidents of La Liga, the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF), and the Referees’ Technical Committee (CTA), urging them to take disciplinary measures against Real Madrid president Florentino Perez.

The statement from the reigning La Liga champions reads as follows:

“The president of FC Barcelona, Rafael Yuste y Abel, has today sent a formal letter to the presidents of LaLiga, Javier Tebas; the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF), Rafael Louzan; and the Technical Committee of Referees (CTA), Francisco Soto, in relation to the statements made by the president of Real Madrid CF, Florentino Perez, in various public appearances on May 12 and 13.”

Barcelona’s statement refers to the comments made by Perez last month during a press conference in which he accused the Catalan club of having ‘stolen’ several La Liga titles from Real Madrid with the alleged assistance of referees.

“FC Barcelona believes that these statements, in addition to being false, seriously undermine the honour and image of the First Division League competition, as well as the refereeing body as a whole, and damage the reputation and credibility of Spanish professional football.”

Moreover, Barcelona, who have already begun legal proceedings against Perez and Real Madrid, have called on the football authorities to take decisive action to safeguard the integrity of the competition.

“The Club urges the competition’s co-organisers and the referees to defend the reputation of their organisations—just as the Club has recently done by filing the conciliation claim.”

“The Club asks the recipient entities to urgently adopt, within the scope of their respective competencies, the appropriate associative and judicial measures against Mr. Perez to defend the honour, integrity, and prestige of the institutions they represent and the competitions they organise.”

It remains to be seen how Real Madrid will react to Barcelona’s move and whether La Liga, the RFEF, and the CTA will decide to intervene in the matter.