Long-standing and controversial Real Madrid president Florentino Perez will continue in that position after winning the Spanish soccer club's first contested presidential elections in 20 years.
Perez polled 65% at elections held over the weekend, while his challenger, 37-year-old energy-based millionaire Enrique Riquelme, could only manage 35%. In total, 33,555 of the heavyweight club's members voted.
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In total, Perez has been Real Madrid president for 23 years, split across two spells – initially, between 2000 and 2006, and then from 2009 onwards. He is now set to stay in power for at least another four years.
He had won the previous five 'elections' unopposed – the last of which was only in 2025, meaning Perez was only one year into his term.
The incumbent called a snap election on May 14, via a lengthy and at times confusing press conference in which he railed against a long list of the club's enemies – both real and imaginary.
Riquelme always faced long odds in the election, given that he had less than a month from when Perez made his announcement to prepare a candidacy.
Now that Perez has triumphed, he is able to continue with plans for 5% of the club to be sold off, with this scheme first unveiled last November.
This would represent the single most significant change in the ownership structure of the club in its 123-year history – the team has been owned by its members since it was founded in 1902.
The subsidiary would remain owned by the club's members, of which there are over 98,000, with a small stake of around 5% to be sold.
Real Madrid were recently valued by Forbes at $9.5 billion.
In February, Real Madrid withdrew from the controversial European Super League breakaway competition – which Perez had initially been a strong advocate for – putting an end to a five-year saga involving some of the biggest teams on the continent.
European soccer’s UEFA announced yesterday that Real Madrid had ended its ‘legal disputes’ with the governing body, with the pair reaching a new agreement.
The move effectively ended the project, with Real Madrid being the last member remaining after Barcelona withdrew last week.
