Perez talks Valverde-Tchouameni fight, manager rumours, La Liga, Negreira case – ‘Biggest scandal in history’ | OneFootball

Following his explosive statements in the media address, Real Madrid president Florentino Perez answered questions from the journalists present at the press conference held today.

The Real Madrid chief, during his initial address, lashed out at the Spanish press, while also announcing that he will be calling for new elections.

Once the Q&A with the journalists began, as was expected, Perez was asked about Real Madrid’s poor season and the talk of the new manager being appointed.

However, Perez remarked at the start: “I’m not going to talk about coaches or players. I’m here to return Real Madrid ’s assets to its members. They’re taking them away from the members. They want me to leave, but I’m not going to leave.

“Instead, I’m going to run in the elections because I want to defend the idea that Real Madrid should continue to belong to its members.”

“I won’t talk about sporting matters. Some want to end Real Madrid ’s ownership. Those who want to run, let them know, it’s their opportunity, but they shouldn’t talk behind our backs. I hear all sorts of things,” he added.

When asked in particular about Jose Mourinho being in the running for the managerial position, Perez once again dodged the question, saying:

“I didn’t think they were going to ask me about that. We’re not at that stage of the legal process. We’re at the point of ensuring that Real Madrid belongs to its members, who are trying to take it away from us.

“I want to discuss this with them and have them come forward. I’m going to ask them what they’ve done with Real Madrid in their lives. I have to put an end to this absurd campaign against Real Madrid. There has never been a more glorious Real Madrid.

“I’ve been elected the best president in the history of the club, and of all clubs, which I’m ashamed to say. We’re not talking about football today.”

Negreira case

On the Negreira case, the Real Madrid president hit out at Barcelona, saying: “The Real Madrid members are with me in my fight against Negreira and the others. It’s not always Real Madrid that suffers; other teams do too. Barça always benefits.  

“UEFA will get involved in this matter, they will. It’s unacceptable that I’m under suspicion of corruption paid for over 20 years. We’ll see what happens in both the criminal and sporting aspects with UEFA. And we’ll see what happens.

“I didn’t come here so that the referees could enrich themselves with Barcelona ‘s money.”

This came after he had already brought up the Negreira issue in his initial address, where he said:

“Three years ago we learned about the Negreira Case. The biggest scandal in history. They’ve been paying for two decades, but now it’s the same referees for this third decade.

“We will present a substantial dossier to UEFA so they can tackle this issue at its root and resolve the case for the good of world football.”

Florentino Perez hit out at Barcelona over the Negreira case. (Photo by Angel Martinez/Getty Images)

Continuing, he added: “Of course, there’s also our perennial enemy, La Liga . We’re going to fight. I’m fighting against everyone. The systemic corruption of the Negreira Case… How can we just forget it?

“We’re preparing a 500-page dossier that I’ll send to UEFA when the competition is over. I’ve already spoken with them. There’s no precedent for this in the history of world football. It’s the biggest corruption case ever.”

On his previous stance of wanting to help Barcelona during their difficult period, Perez added:

“That was long before the Negreira case. We only recently learned about it; we couldn’t have imagined that the head of the referees was distributing money from Barcelona for two decades. This issue has come to light late.

“Since then, we’ve been compiling a dossier and we’re going to get to the bottom of it. It’s the biggest corruption case in the history of football. For the good of football. Nobody in the world would even consider paying off referees. It’s inconceivable.”

Stating that he and Real Madrid could have won many more league titles if not for the Negreira scandal, he added:

“We’ve been left with nothing, and I’ve been here I don’t know how many seasons and I’ve only won seven European Cups and seven Leagues, which could have been 14 because they’ve been stolen from me.

“We’ve made a video about the 18 points they’ve taken from us this season.”

On the dressing room fight

The Real Madrid president was also quizzed about last week’s incident where Federico Valverde and Aurelien Tchouameni were involved in a locker room fight.

“I fired three coaches one year, which isn’t the first time it’s happened. And it’s not the first time two players have fought; they fight every season because they’re competitive,” he said.

“The difference here is that someone has spoken about it for the first time, and we know who it was,” alluding to the leak from the dressing room.

Continuing on the topic, Perez noted: “I think it’s terrible, and I think it’s even worse that they’ve made it public. I’ve been here for 26 years, and there hasn’t been a single year without two players… or four of them… fighting.

“But I think it’s awful that it’s being made public. They’ve fought every year I’ve been here. Like young people do, you kick one, the other one kicks you back, and then they’re friends.”

“For me, the leak is worse, because it implies that there’s more to it than just the fight; the next day they’re friends and go for coffee. I think it’s the first time I’ve seen that in my 26-year history, and that worries me too.”

Regarding the fans booing and whistling the players at the Santiago Bernabeu, Perez hit out, saying:

“If Real Madrid play badly, they can be booed all they want. But there’s a movement to get people who are angry because they’re playing badly to boo. If it’s our players, it’s like booing our own children.

It’s all influenced by the ultras, who are stirring things up for Thursday’s match. Let them chant ‘Florentino resign.’

“Let them go to these elections and challenge me, because they’ve never challenged me before. I do what’s best for Real Madrid; I have to defend Real Madrid, that’s what my dad taught me from a very young age.”

Concluding, Perez said: “Journalists think they have a lot of power. They have no power at all because people are very clever. Jose María García did a lot of damage. Others replaced him and they think that by attacking Real Madrid they’ll become important.

“They’ll have to shoot me because I have the support of all the Real Madrid members. Florentino isn’t going to leave until the members want me to go”

Source: AS