Incumbent beats challenger Enrique Riquelme in first member vote in 20 years
Florentino Perez has secured another term as Real Madrid president after defeating challenger Enrique Riquelme in the club’s first contested election since 2006.
The 79-year-old won 65% of the vote, receiving 21,741 ballots to Riquelme’s 11,814 after 33,555 members participated in the election.
The result extends Perez’s presidency, which has spanned two spells since 2000, and follows five consecutive electoral cycles in which he was returned unopposed.
The outcome also removes uncertainty over a series of major sporting and institutional decisions already tied to Perez’s campaign. Jose Mourinho is now expected to be formally confirmed as Real Madrid’s next manager, with the club set to pay Benfica a reported €15m release fee, while Perez has pledged to launch a bid worth at least €150m for an unnamed attacking signing widely understood to be Michael Olise.
More significantly, Perez now has a mandate to pursue plans to sell a 5% stake in the club to an external investor. Perez has argued that some outside investment would strengthen the club and still preserve member ownership, but opponents have portrayed the move as the first step towards abandoning a fan-ownership model that has existed since Real Madrid’s foundation in 1902.
The margin of victory, while decisive, was narrower than many had anticipated. Perez entered the campaign as the overwhelming favourite after unexpectedly calling elections despite having a tenure that ran until 2029.
The contest between him and challenger Enrique Riquelme, a 37-year-old renewable energy businessman, evolved into a debate over the club’s future ownership. Riquelme called on members to resist Perez’s attempt to sell part of the club. He also criticised corporate structure under Perez as being run like a feudal monarchy.
However, towards the closing stages of the campaigns, football promises dominated the scene. Perez promised to bring Mourinho back to the Bernabeu and announced the signings of Ibrahima Konate and Denzel Dumfries. He also promised to bid up to €150m for Bayern Munich’s Michael Olise.
Riquelme countered by proposing club legend Raul as sporting director, attempting to recruit Jurgen Klopp as head coach and promising to sign Erling Haaland and Rodri from Manchester City. The agents of Haaland and Klopp swiftly responded to the claims and ruled out a move for their clients.
Perez said the result of the election on Sunday was a validation of both his leadership and the club’s democratic model.
“We’ve obtained the second-best result in the history of Real Madrid elections,” he said. “Today, Real Madrid won. We’ve shown an example of democracy to the world. We’ll keep working for Real Madrid to keep winning trophies.”
