Real Madrid president Florentino Perez will not be in attendance for Saturday’s Clasico against Barcelona.
Perez, 76, had been set to attend the game in Montjuic after being absent from the previous two fixtures at Camp Nou due to escalating tensions between the clubs following the Negreira case.
But Real Madrid sources, who were not permitted to speak publicly, told The Athletic that despite a directors’ lunch being organised by Barcelona for 1pm, a series of recent events had prompted a change in Perez’s plans.
Those included recent comments from Barcelona president Joan Laporta, criticising Real’s apparent power and influence in the Negreira case, as well as an embrace between Laporta and Real CEO Jose Angel Sanchez at Monday’s La Liga Assembly, which drew criticism from supporters. But a trigger appears to have been a now deleted tweet allegedly sent from the account of Barcelona board member Mikel Camps, criticising Real Madrid forward Vinicius Junior after he performed a number of stepovers during a Champions League victory over Braga.
The tweet read: “It’s not racism, he deserves a slap for being a clown. What do these unnecessary and meaningless stepovers represent in the centre of the field?”
On Wednesday, Barcelona manager Xavi would not be drawn on reports that Perez would skip the Clasico, but said: “I don’t like anything that generates tension ahead of a game like this.”
Barcelona vice president Rafael Yuste also condemned Camps’ tweet and vowed the behaviour would not be repeated.
“Even if it was a lapse, it is a bad comment to make,” Yuste told Spanish broadcaster Movistar. “It was a huge mistake. If Vinicius is listening to me, I can tell him this is not going to happen again.”
The plan, as it stands, is for Real Madrid to be represented by Eduardo Fernandez de Blas, one of the club’s vice-presidents, and Emilio Butragueno, club legend and current director of institutional relations, but Real Madrid are set to snub the pre-match lunch.
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Perez is currently mourning the death of close friend Fernando Fernandez Tapias, Real Madrid’s first vice-president.
But the clubs’ relationship has deteriorated following the Negreira case.
Since March, Barcelona have been facing corruption charges over payments totalling €7.3million (£6.3m; $7.7m at current exchange rates) made to the vice-president of Spanish football’s refereeing committee, Jose Maria Enriquez Negreira, in a case brought by the Spanish public prosecutor’s office. The case relates to payments made between 2001 and 2018.
Negreira has denied ever favouring Barcelona in terms of refereeing decisions. Barcelona have also denied any wrongdoing and earlier this year said they hired Negreira as an “external consultant” who provided reports “related to professional refereeing”.
El Clasico takes place at Estadi Olimpic Lluis Companys, with Real Madrid top of La Liga and Barcelona third.
La Liga, meanwhile, have expressed their disappointment that the game won’t be shown in the United Kingdom. The UK’s 3pm blackout rule means the match will not be available to watch in the country.
La Liga delegate, Keegan Pearce, said:“We’re disappointed that British fans cannot watch El Clasico this weekend, due to the UK’s self-imposed Saturday 3pm blackout rule.
“While we fully support measures to promote attendance up and down the pyramid, we believe the blackout should be limited to televising of domestic football, not overseas competitions, who have no voice nor vote in the matter.”
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(Photo: Oscar J. Barroso/Europa Press via Getty Images)
