Barcelona vice-president Rafael Yuste condemned Perez’s remarks as a ploy to destabilise the team, stating: ‘He has resorted to infamy to destabilise us. We will meet in court. The name of Barca, this crest, is not dirtied by anyone. We will take care of it ourselves. We will go after them because we have everything to win. It was pathetic.’
The club followed through in June, issuing an official statement: ‘Barcelona informs that today the mandatory conciliation claim prior to the filing of a complaint for a crime of slander under Article 205 of the Penal Code has been presented against the President of Real Madrid, Mr. Florentino Perez… The objective of this lawsuit is for Mr. Perez to retract certain manifestations that he made with knowledge of their falsehood… In the event that this demand is not duly addressed, FC Barcelona will proceed with the presentation of the corresponding criminal complaint.’
