In a bizarre emergency press conference, Real Madrid president Florentino Pérez announced elections as he said, “I’m sorry to say that I’m not going to resign. We’re going to call for elections, and I and this board of directors will be running in them. I’ve been working since 2000 to ensure that the members are the owners. Unlike other clubs…”
Florentino on the reasons behind the election
“An absurd situation has arisen because of a campaign against the interests of Real Madrid and against me in particular. The results haven’t been the best,
but they’re using this as an opportunity to attack me personally. They ask where Florentino is. They say I don’t exist, that I have terminal cancer. I’d like to take this opportunity to say that I continue to lead Madrid every day, just as I do my company (ACS). My health is perfect. I’d have to go to a cancer center to get checked out. They’ve decided that I’m tired.”
Florentino on ABC’s claim that he’s tired
“ABC reported this before the meeting began: ‘I’m very tired.’ It’s true that we haven’t won anything this year. We’ve won 66 titles with me as president. I want to talk about the people behind this campaign. Let’s see if they show up; we’re going to show up, and I invite them to do the same. Here at Madrid, the members are in charge as long as I’m here. If I look tired, it’s because I work hard.”
Florentino on his critics
“Stop beating around the bush, take the plunge, step forward, and put up the necessary funds. Why isn’t anyone running against me? It must be because they’re afraid of me. Florentino isn’t going anywhere until the members want me to leave. They’ll have to shoot me to get me out.”
Florentino on Barcelona
“They’ve been paying for two decades, but the fact is that in this third decade, it’s the same referees. We will submit a comprehensive dossier to UEFA so that they can nip this in the bud and resolve the case for the good of world soccer.”
Florentino on Negreira
“The corruption in the Negreira case is systemic. That we have to hear the CTA president say that these are things we need to forget… But how can we forget? We’re putting together a 500-page dossier that we’re going to send to UEFA. I’ve already gone to speak with them. There is simply no precedent in the history of world soccer. How can we possibly forget the biggest corruption case in history? It is incomprehensible that we continue to see referees from that era in a competition like La Liga.”
Florentino on corruption
“Let’s see if we take this seriously and if UEFA finally steps in on this issue, and they will, because they can’t allow the most important soccer, which is European soccer, to be under suspicion of corruption that has been going on for 20 years. Let’s see what happens on the criminal front and then on the sporting front with UEFA, who have agreed to let us send them the entire dossier. And let’s see what happens.”
Florentino on the dossier for UEFA
“We’ve been working on this for two years. It’s a compilation of objective facts. We’re going to see this through to the end. Because this is the most serious case of corruption in the history of soccer. It’s for the good of soccer, not to pick on Barcelona.”
Florentino on this season
“We’ve come up empty-handed, and I’ve been here for I don’t know how many seasons, yet I’ve only won seven European Cups and seven league titles, which could have been 14 if they hadn’t been stolen from me. We’ve made a video about the 18 points they’ve taken away from us this season. I can’t just stay silent about this.”
Florentino on the training ground fight
“I think it’s really bad, and I think it’s even worse that they’ve made it public. I’ve been here for 26 years, and there hasn’t been a single year when two players haven’t gotten into a fight… or four. But I think it’s really bad that it’s getting out. They’ve fought every single year I’ve been here. It’s just like how young people fight, one kicks the other, the other kicks back, and then they’re friends again. For me, the leak is worse, because it implies there’s more to it than just a fight where the next day they’re friends and go out for coffee. I think this is the first time I’ve seen it in my 26 years here, and that worries me too. It’s not the first time two players have fought, nor is it the first time I’ve fired coaches. I fired three coaches in one year, that’s not the first time that’s happened. And it’s not the first time two players have come to blows; they fight every season because they get under each other’s skin. What’s happening here is that this year it’s been reported for the first time, and we know who reported it.”
