A verbally abusive president, brawling players, and a star coach in limbo – anarchic conditions prevail at Real Madrid.
For some, it was Donald Trump in Spanish; others felt reminded of the legendary ‘Human Rights’ press conference by Uli Hoeness and Karl-Heinz Rummenigge at FC Bayern. In 64 bizarre minutes filled with attacks and tirades against the ‘enemies of Real Madrid,’ President Florentino Perez revealed all the chaos at the Royal club – and shook the foundations of the world’s biggest football club.
‘They’ll have to shoot me to get me out of here,’ blustered the Real boss on Tuesday evening, as he surprisingly announced new elections amidst the biggest sporting crisis in years. The newspaper El País wrote that Perez had performed ‘a striptease of his arrogance, his megalomania, and his machismo,’ while El Mundo commented after an appearance for ‘lovers of comedy’ that the patron had ‘dropped his mask.’
Perez spoke of a ‘smear campaign’ against him and Real, a ‘conspiracy’ by the media. He singled out individual reporters in the room, questioned a journalist’s professional competence based on her gender, spoke disrespectfully to another (‘the girl’), downplayed the fight between professionals Federico Valverde and Aurélien Tchouaméni, and, of course, attacked his favorite enemy, arch-rival FC Barcelona.
The Spanish champions hastily issued a statement reserving their right to take legal action. Referring to the ‘Negreira case’ regarding Barcelona’s potential influence on referees (‘The biggest corruption scandal in football history’), Perez claimed that Real had been robbed of seven league titles.
In a no less spectacular appearance on the widely watched show El Chiringuito on the Spanish TV channel LA SEXTA, he repeated his accusations on Wednesday evening. The 79-year-old responded condescendingly to an open, conciliatory letter from his potential opponent, billionaire entrepreneur Enrique Riquelme: ‘I don’t know this gentleman.’
Perez Blocks Due to Mourinho
League boss Javier Tebas commented on X on Thursday morning that Perez had ‘revealed his true character, his true nature.’ Perez’s accusation of inaction by the league in the ‘Negreira case’ was a lie.
All these disputes are taking place against the backdrop of a title-less season, where, after Xabi Alonso, the next Real coach, Alvaro Arbeloa, is on the verge of being sacked. It is said that Perez wants to bring star coach Jose Mourinho back from Benfica Lisbon.
On Tuesday, he evaded questions about it, and on Wednesday, he said a return was currently ‘not up for debate.’ He spiced this seemingly denial with the statement that he not only likes ‘Mou’ but ‘all coaches,’ but that he doesn’t hire the coach at Real.
Will Perez Be Voted Out as Real President?
At the same time, tennis idol Rafael Nadal rejected reports linking him to Riquelme’s potential candidacy. The 37-year-old businessman, membership number 43,858, clarified in the meantime that he meets ‘all’ the prerequisites for the election campaign.
This includes a guarantee of 15 percent of the club’s revenue – 187 million euros. A trifle for the ‘Sun King,’ as Riquelme is known, alluding to his company, which is a global leader in renewable energy.
But what does that matter? After all, ‘Papa Perez’ is the ‘best president in Real Madrid’s history.’ Said: Perez.