After Spanish law firm Cremades & Calvo-Sotelo retracted its report on Atlético’s finances because of “inexact, incomplete and erroneous information” provided by Señales de Humo, the association, composed of Rojiblanco journalists and fans, claims it was “baffled” and left in a position where it is unable to defend itself.
Cremades attorneys met with members of Señales’ board of directors on Monday in order to inform their clients that they had reached a settlement with Atlético, and that the agreement would be made public later that same day.
The signed contract between the law firm and club officials required Cremades, among other things, to officially withdraw its 4,000 page report prepared for Señales de Humo.
In a statement published on the association’s site on Tuesday, Señales responded to Cremades’ allegations of purportedly inaccurate information. The group wrote it had hired Cremades as an objective third party to publish “an impartial, unbiased report.”
Señales also asserts that “all information was taken from the official corporate accounts of the club issued to the shareholders and available to the public at the corresponding commercial registers.”
“The arguments put forward by Cremades & Calvo-Sotelo in order to defend their new stance are inconceivable as, for over fourteen months, the professionals of the firm have had the obligation to compare, select and complete the information used before signing and making their report public, precisely so that it would not contain ‘inexact, incomplete or erroneous’ information.”
The group wanted to make known that it remained “baffled” by Cremades’ new stance, one the association “most absolutely rejects.”
Moreover, Señales alleges that the settlement agreement between Cremades and Atlético violated the attorney-client relationship, as the law firm was required to defend the best interests of their client, in this case, Señales de Humo.
“Señales de Humo currently finds itself in a clear state of defenselessness, as the existence of an erroneous set of data in the report has been made public without that [information] being specified, therefore this association has not been permitted to respond to or clarify that affirmation,” the statement read.
According to the group’s statement, Cremades will meet with them on Friday to go over the information that was found to be erroneous. The association will issue another statement then.
Finally, Señales warned: “We will not tolerate our image and credibility being called into question because of accusations unjustly made by [Cremades]; we will relentlessly seek to demonstrate that our actions are completely free of any suspicion and irresponsibility.”