Real Madrid has issued a response to allegations of referee bribery made by a former police commissioner, who asserted that prosecuting Florentino Perez is a daunting task.
According to The Athletic, Jose Manuel Villarejo recently made these accusations during an interview with the Spanish publication RAC 1.
Villarejo brought up the claims while discussing the ongoing scandal at Barcelona, where the club has been charged with making payments to the former vice president of Spain’s football refereeing committee, Jose Maria Enriquez Negreira.
Negreira is currently facing corruption charges, along with Sandro Rosell and Josep Maria Bartomeu, both of whom served as Barcelona’s president during the final eight years of Negreira’s tenure from 2010 to 2018.
Barca have always denied any wrongdoing, but Villarejo claims that Real have engaged in similar practises, as he told RAC 1: “All presidents have done it. Florentino Perez, too.
“Somehow, at Real Madrid, before this Negreira case, the same thing had already been detected.
“It is impossible to prosecute anything that involves Perez. It would be suicide for anyone who dared to do so. Florentino is untouchable.”
Real Madrid have released an official statement responding to the allegations, confirming that Perez has already initiated legal proceedings against Villarejo for his “false accusations”.
The statement in full reads: “The president of Real Madrid C.F., Florentino Perez, has ordered the immediate filing of the corresponding legal action against the ex-commissioner Villarejo for the false accusations made on the Catalan radio station RAC1.”
Villarejo was detained in 2017 on suspicion of bribery and extortion, and his trial began four years later.
Meanwhile, Real Madrid is presently gearing up for their Champions League group stage encounter against Napoli. The match is scheduled to be held at the Diego Armando Maradona Stadium on Tuesday night.