The dispute between Barcelona and Real Madrid president Florentino Pérez is heading to court.

On November 25, the Spanish champions and the rival club's president must appear for a mediation hearing in Madrid. Judicial circles confirmed this on Monday. The hearing precedes a potential criminal proceeding for defamation against Pérez.

The background involves statements made by the Real Madrid boss regarding the so-called Negreira case. Pérez had accused Barcelona in May of corruption among other things and described the case as the "most serious corruption case in the history of football." The 79-year-old stated that he had won seven championships and could have won twice as many, claiming the others were stolen from him regarding his accusation that the Catalans influenced referee decisions.

Barcelona subsequently requested mediation in June and demanded a public retraction of the statements. Should no agreement be reached, the club announced it would file a criminal complaint for defamation.

Barca payments under scrutiny

At the center of the Negreira case are payments made by Barcelona of up to seven million euros over many years to companies connected to Jose Maria Enriquez Negreira, a former vice president of the Spanish referees' committee.

Spanish authorities are investigating whether these payments were intended to influence sporting decisions. Barcelona denies any wrongdoing and states it paid for referee reports.

The November hearing is initially an attempt to settle the dispute out of court. Only if that fails could Barcelona proceed with the announced criminal action against Pérez.