Guest of Catalan radio Rac1, José Manuel Villarejo accused Real Madrid president Florentino Perez of having bribed several referees before FC Barcelona, also accused of corruption in the Negreira affair. Just a few hours after the former police commissioner’s statement, the Madrid club published a press release in which it announced that it had filed a complaint against Villarejo.
“The president of Real Madrid C.F., Florentino Pérez, ordered the immediate filing of the corresponding legal action against former commissioner Villarejo due to the false accusations launched on the Catalan radio station RAC1,” we can read in the text .
José Manuel Villarejo accused Real Madrid when he was asked to react to the Negreira affair, named after this former head of Spanish refereeing who was handsomely paid by Barça to provide advice (suspected of having turned into advantageous decisions on the ground).
The former commissioner claimed to have discovered how the Catalan club bribed referees while he was responsible for investigating its former president Sandro Rosell, suspected of being linked to the Catalan independence movement.
“I saw that he had nothing to do with the independence movement, that he was a lobbyist in the world of football,” Villarejo said. The only thing that had some interest was that he had taken action regarding the question of referees, to fix matches.
According to him, “all presidents” have worked this way, including Florentino Pérez. “In a way, at Real Madrid, before the Negreira case, the same thing had already been detected.” If Barça’s case was taken to court, he also assured that this will never be the case with Florentino Pérez: “It’s impossible. Nothing that affects Florentino Perez can be prosecuted in this country, insists- he said. He who dares is suicidal. He is untouchable.”
