Florentino Pérez said on Tuesday evening that he will call elections at Real Madrid after a day of board celebrations at Ciudad Real Madrid, arguing that some groups had tried to seize the club and portray it as chaotic. Speaking at 18:00 h, Pérez said he was coming forward to defend members, and he repeated that he would not leave the club.
"Me presento a las elecciones porque hay sectores que se han querido adueñar del club y decir que el Real Madrid es un caos," Pérez said. He added: "Yo no me voy a ir," and "Seré el último de los socios en irme." He also said: "Convoco las elecciones para defender a los socios." The Real Madrid president said the club had expelled 1,600 socios during the year.
The announcement comes as Pérez uses the elections to press a broader fight with LaLiga and to revive his criticism of the Caso Negreira, which he called systemic corruption. He said Real Madrid is preparing a dossier of 500 pages to send to UEFA when the competition ends, while negotiations over the Superliga continue after the European court ruling that Pérez said the project had won in the TJUE.
Pérez also returned to some of the financial and institutional disputes that have shadowed his tenure. He said that in 2000 he contributed 174 million pesetas from his own assets so players could be paid, and he rejected the idea that the Santiago Bernabéu renovation began at 600 million euros and ended at 1,300 million, saying the 600 million figure referred only to the first contract for the roof. He said he was also giving up his ABC subscription to honor his father: "Anuncio que me voy a dar de baja del ABC para honrar a mi padre."
After 26 years in charge, Pérez is presenting the election as a defense of the club’s members and a final stand against internal and external critics. The next phase will hinge on how quickly the election is set and whether his confrontation with LaLiga and UEFA deepens once the season is over.
