In a press conference marked by multiple inappropriate comments, including sexist remarks, Real Madrid president Florentino Pérez announced on Tuesday that a new presidential election would be held. The move is widely seen as an attempt to consolidate his power as the club faces a severe sporting crisis.
Florentino Pérez, the president of Real Madrid, speaking during his extraordinary press conference this Tuesday evening. (Violeta Santos Moura/Reuters)
“I’m sorry to tell you that I will not resign. But I have asked the board of directors to initiate the electoral process for a new election,” Pérez said with a slightly mocking tone at the start of his press conference, held just after 6 p.m. at the club’s training ground. The meeting followed a board session that had begun an hour earlier.
However, after more than an hour of constant attacks against the media and those he called “the bad guys” who “want to take away our club by orchestrating an absurd campaign against Real Madrid’s interests and especially against me,” no one yet knows when the new presidential election will be held. “We will launch the electoral process within about fifteen days,” Pérez said vaguely.
Once the process begins, potential candidates will have ten days to submit their applications. If two or more candidates are approved by the board, a vote will be held fifteen days later. If only one candidate remains, that person will be elected without a vote the day after the application deadline—a scenario that has played out in each of Pérez’s last five elections (2009, 2013, 2017, 2021, and 2025) when he was the sole candidate.
As a strategic veteran, Pérez previously modified club statutes in 2012 to make it harder for rivals to run. Candidates must be Spanish nationals, have been a club member for at least twenty uninterrupted years, and provide personal financial guarantees covering 15% of Real Madrid’s budget—currently 1.28 billion euros, meaning a candidate must personally guarantee 187 million euros. While Pérez, with a personal fortune of 3.1 billion euros according to Forbes 2025, easily meets this requirement, it remains a huge barrier for others.
“Calling these elections so that those children who want my job can step up,” Pérez declared during the press conference. “Let them stop complaining and take the leap. Why does no one run against me? They must be afraid of me. Let that entrepreneur with a Mexican accent present himself.” This was an apparent reference to socios like Enrique Riquelme (37 years old), head of the solar energy company Cox Energy, who has long expressed ambition to run for president.
“But Florentino isn’t leaving. They’ll have to shoot me for that,” Pérez concluded, facing a room of incredulous journalists and uncomfortable club executives seated in the front row.
In a self-pitying tone, Pérez attacked his usual targets (the media, La Liga, refereeing, Barcelona, the Negreira case) while making at least two sexist remarks toward female journalists. He barely addressed the team’s sporting problems, showed no self-criticism, and appeared to have only worsened his own position. The club is enduring its worst spell in 16 years, with no major titles in two seasons and tensions in the dressing room, exemplified by a recent fight between Aurélien Tchouaméni and Federico Valverde.
