{"id":2848,"date":"2026-06-05T14:36:55","date_gmt":"2026-06-05T14:36:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=2848"},"modified":"2026-06-05T14:36:55","modified_gmt":"2026-06-05T14:36:55","slug":"florentino-perez-faces-first-election-for-real-madrid-leadership-in-20-years","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=2848","title":{"rendered":"Florentino P\u00e9rez faces first election for Real Madrid leadership in 20 years"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\"\"<\/figure>\n\n
Real MadridPresident Florentino Perez reacts before a La Liga soccer match between Real Madrid and Athletic in Madrid, Spain, Saturday, May 23, 2026. (AP Photo\/Manu Fernandez)<\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n

BARCELONA, Spain \u2014 For the first time in 20 years, Florentino P\u00e9rez\u2019s Real Madrid reign will be challenged at the ballot box.<\/p>

Read more Mirra Andreeva\u2019s new calm meets surprise package Maja Chwalinska in French Open final<\/a><\/p>\n

The world\u2019s most valuable and most successful soccer club will hold elections on Sunday.<\/p>\n

P\u00e9rez, the 79-year-old executive who for the past two-and-a-half-decades has made Madrid the global powerhouse to beat, will face an upstart rival half his age who is making big promises to convince the club\u2019s 98,000 members to consider a change.<\/p>\n

Enrique Riquelme, 37, was still a boy when P\u00e9rez first took over. He remained unknown to most Madrid fans until he stepped forward as a rival candidate after the incumbent called early elections<\/a> last month in a press conference dominated by P\u00e9rez\u2019s claims the Spanish media is trying to \u201ckill\u201d his presidency.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhy do they want to kill me?\u201d an agitated P\u00e9rez told reporters on May 12. \u201cWhy? Because there are some kids out there saying they want to run? Well, let them. I would love them to.\u201d<\/p>\n

Riquelme, a renewable energy executive, has surprisingly been able to mount a credible threat. That\u2019s thanks to the backing of former Madrid players like Ra\u00fal Gonz\u00e1lez and promising huge, and arguably far-fetched, signings like that of Manchester City star Erling Haaland<\/a> .<\/p>\n

Riquelme got a big boost when Madrid great Ra\u00fal, its record holder for games played, former goalkeeper Iker Casillas and ex-defender Fernando Hierro joined his campaign.<\/p>\n

Ra\u00fal would be Riquelme\u2019s sports director, a role that doesn\u2019t exist now, while Hierro would oversee its youth academy. Casillas\u2019s exact role was not defined.<\/p>\n

Riquelme also said he wanted to sign Spain midfielder Rodri, who has one year left on his contract with City.<\/p>\n

But Riquelme\u2019s big lure dangled to voters this week, his claim that \u201cHaaland wants to come to Madrid,\u201d prompted City to dismiss any chance of negotiating for the sale of its top-scoring striker who is under contract until 2034.<\/p>\n

That didn\u2019t stop Riquelme going on Spain\u2019s state broadcaster TVE and doubling down on his pledge.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf I am made president of Real Madrid on Sunday, Haaland will play for Real Madrid,\u201d he said on Thursday.<\/p>\n

Then it was the turn of Haaland\u2019s entourage to shoot it down.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll very entertaining but not true. We wish all the best for both candidates in the Madrid elections,\u201d Haaland\u2019s agent, Rafael Pimenta, told the AP in a short statement on Friday.P\u00e9rez has earned status as top dog<\/p>\n

\u201cIt must be a bluff,\u201d was P\u00e9rez\u2019s opinion.<\/p>\n

Not to be outdone, P\u00e9rez said Thursday that next week \u2014 after the election \u2014 he would announce the \u201cmost expensive transfer in the history of Real Madrid,\u201d worth, he said, at least 150 million euros ($173 million).<\/p>\n

He knows a thing or two about promising apparently impossible signings \u2014 and then making them come true. He won his first elections in 2000 when he swore he would sign then-Barcelona forward Luis Figo. And that he did.<\/p>

Read more Inter Milan brings back Dejan Stankovic\u2019s son, Aleksandar, on 5-year deal<\/a><\/p>\n

Now, P\u00e9rez has promised to bring back Jos\u00e9 Mourinho<\/a> , Madrid\u2019s coach from 2010-13, and sign Liverpool defender Ibrahima Konat\u00e9, a free agent, and Inter Milan\u2019s Denzel Dumfries, if he is given another four years.<\/p>\n

While those names are unlikely to thrill all of Madrid\u2019s members, Mourinho\u2019s abrasive style left the fanbase divided, P\u00e9rez\u2019s pledges do have the value of being completely credible.<\/p>\n

Besides Figo, he has consistently delivered on his transfer targets, from Zinedine Zidane and David Beckham, to Cristiano Ronaldo and, most recently, after years of trying, Kylian Mbapp\u00e9.<\/p>\n

And, regardless of his plans, P\u00e9rez\u2019s wildly successful record is his best pitch.<\/p>\n

In his two stints, from 2000-2006 and from 2009 until now, Madrid has won seven of its record 15 European Cups, along with a slew of other titles, including seven La Liga crowns and three Copa del Reys.<\/p>\n

That all has been fueled by healthy finances as it was transformed into a global brand under P\u00e9rez, who also runs a major international construction company: Madrid has topped the Forbes Money League of the world\u2019s most valuable soccer clubs for five consecutive seasons.<\/p>\n

P\u00e9rez\u2019s Super League project meant to transform European soccer and replace UEFA\u2019s Champions League with a club-run competition flopped<\/a> in the face of backlash from some fans, many smaller clubs, and UEFA.<\/p>\n

And so far his bet on Mbapp\u00e9 has not panned out. In the star\u2019s two seasons at Madrid it has won no major titles, while P\u00e9rez has parted ways with three coaches in Carlo Ancelotti, Xabi Alonso and \u00c1lvaro Arbeloa.<\/p>\n

Riquelme is also taking aim at the idea P\u00e9rez floated last year to sell 10% of the club to private investors<\/a> , a move that would break with 124 years of the member ownership model.<\/p>\n

P\u00e9rez ran unchallenged when elections were to be held in 2009, 2013, 2017, 2021 and 2025. His latest term was set to expire in 2029.<\/p>\n

Riquelme has reiterated previous complaints that changes P\u00e9rez\u2019s board made to the club statutes in 2012 made it more difficult for members to present a candidacy for the presidency.<\/p>\n

Since then, a presidential candidate has had to be a club member for 20 years and have collateral equivalent to 15% of the club budget.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe most important thing is that after 20 years, due to a complete lack of democracy and impediments year after year so that other members of Real Madrid can run, now the moment to vote has arrived,\u201d Riquelme said.<\/p>\n

P\u00e9rez stepped down in 2006 following a bad season but returned to power in 2009.<\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

AP soccer writer James Robson contributed to this report from Manchester, England.<\/p>

Read more England stretches lead to 99 at lunch as New Zealand all out for 113 at Lord\u2019s<\/a><\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

AP soccer: https:\/\/apnews.com\/hub\/soccer<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Florentino P\u00e9rez\u2019s Real Madrid reign will be challenged at the ballot box for the first time in two decades when club members vote on Sunday<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2846,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2848","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-interesting"],"yoast_head":"\nFlorentino P\u00e9rez faces first election for Real Madrid leadership in 20 years - Moving Insider USA<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=2848\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Florentino P\u00e9rez faces first election for Real Madrid leadership in 20 years - Moving Insider USA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Florentino P\u00e9rez\u2019s Real Madrid reign will be challenged at the ballot box for the first time in two decades when club members vote on Sunday\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=2848\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Moving Insider USA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-06-05T14:36:55+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/7db19d70759697b6690e54f3abd999d8-scaled.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2560\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1707\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=2848#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=2848\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/22d40ab81790f6a361021763bb56ef03\"},\"headline\":\"Florentino P\u00e9rez faces first election for Real Madrid leadership in 20 years\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-05T14:36:55+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=2848\"},\"wordCount\":1032,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=2848#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/b08eba0f797ffc636229b60f017c17f3-scaled.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Interesting\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=2848#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=2848\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=2848\",\"name\":\"Florentino P\u00e9rez faces first election for Real Madrid leadership in 20 years - Moving Insider USA\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=2848#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=2848#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/b08eba0f797ffc636229b60f017c17f3-scaled.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-05T14:36:55+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/22d40ab81790f6a361021763bb56ef03\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=2848#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=2848\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=2848#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/b08eba0f797ffc636229b60f017c17f3-scaled.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/b08eba0f797ffc636229b60f017c17f3-scaled.jpg\",\"width\":2560,\"height\":1707,\"caption\":\"Real MadridPresident Florentino Perez reacts before a La Liga soccer match between Real Madrid and Athletic in Madrid, Spain, Saturday, May 23, 2026. 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