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Real Madrid's president, Florentino Perez, and FC Barcelona have been summoned to a court in Madrid for a conciliation hearing on November 25. This hearing is set to take place before a possible criminal proceeding for defamation against Perez, according to sources familiar with the case. The hearing is a result of legal action filed by Barcelona on June 12, which stemmed from Perez's May comments accusing Barcelona of attempting to secure advantageous treatment from referees.

Barcelona contended that the lawsuit aimed to compel Perez to retract statements they deemed knowingly false, defamatory, and detrimental to the club's image and reputation. The court warned that if the conciliation process proved unsuccessful, Barcelona would file a criminal complaint. The controversy revolves around claims Perez made during a May 12 press conference regarding the Negreira case.

Spanish courts are currently examining claims alleging that Barcelona paid up to 7 million euros over nearly two decades to companies associated with Jose Maria Enriquez Negreira, a former vice-president of Spain's refereeing committee, potentially to gain a competitive edge. Barcelona denies any wrongdoing and asserts that the payments were for reports on referees.

The club also claims that the court dismissed bribery charges against them in 2024. Perez referred to the case as "the most serious case of corruption in football" and claimed that Barcelona had given money to the head of the referees. He further alleged that they had been robbed of league titles, stating, "I've won seven leagues. I could have won twice as many. The others were stolen from me."