MADRID — Standing at a podium outside his company headquarters, Real Madrid presidential candidate Enrique Riquelme delivered his strongest statement yet against Florentino Pérez’s vision for the club’s future, framing the upcoming elections as a decisive battle over the ownership of Real Madrid itself.
Riquelme argued that the comments from Perez in El Pais confirmed fears that had motivated him to challenge the long-time president.
“It’s a complicated day,” Riquelme said. “After reading the interview
with the president, Florentino Pérez, in El País, it confirms what some still doubted and what was the main reason that moved me to take the step, after 20 years, to unexpectedly run in these Real Madrid elections. That is the fear of the club being sold after more than 120 years.”
Riquelme read a lengthy statement:
“You know I don’t usually carry notes, but today is a day when I really don’t want to leave any detail out of this statement. All these words have been carefully chosen, and I would like to be able to convey them to you. Therefore, I am appearing today after learning of Florentino Pérez’s statements to El País, which confirm this fear among all the members.
Florentino Pérez is talking about selling to foreign funds. In other words, about starting to break up what belongs to everyone, to put it in the hands of a few. Today we know his plan: to sell a part of the club, he says 5%, to someone from outside. To call, as soon as the polls close, a controlled assembly and a hastily held referendum to change the ownership structure and erase more than 120 years of the club’s history in one fell swoop.
He says it’s 5 or 10%, that it’s nothing. We have to remind him that he controls just over 10% of ACS and has total control of the company. The risk isn’t just how much is sold; the risk is opening the door. Nobody buys a share of the best club in the world for nothing. And the problem is never the size of the first step, it’s opening the door. Because the membership-based club model, once weakened, doesn’t recover. No European club that has started this process has ever reversed course.
Florentino Pérez has crossed a red line. I pledge to do the opposite. I announce that this week I will go to a notary to formalize, with my Board of Directors, a public document outlining my campaign promise: I will never sell any part of Real Madrid to a third party. I publicly invite Florentino Pérez to accompany me to the notary and sign this as well.
There are dozens of measures to increase revenue, reduce expenses… this week we’ve been discussing several of them. Modernizing management and better defending our rights, without abandoning our ownership model. The Florentino Pérez of 20 years ago would never have considered selling; the Florentino of 20 years ago wouldn’t have been afraid of a televised debate. Given the seriousness of the situation, I also offer this to Mr. Anas Laghrari, who is behind this sale of the club.
The members deserve a debate on such a crucial issue. These elections are no longer about Florentino Pérez or Enrique Riquelme. They’re not just about the social or sporting model, although those are important too. They’re about whether or not to sell the club. That’s why I’m saying today, with absolute clarity, that these elections are no longer ordinary elections. These elections are, quite simply, a referendum on the sale of Real Madrid.
There’s the privatization option and the option that guarantees 100% ownership of the club will remain with its members. Florentino has been a great president, but that doesn’t give him the right to sell the club. Nobody is bigger than Real Madrid, nobody; not even Florentino Pérez.
I ask all Real Madrid fans that the result of these elections send the clearest possible message: Real Madrid is not for sale. We need the greatest mobilization in history to stop the biggest threat to the club in our history. I ask all Real Madrid members that our voice is worth more than any fund. And that your vote in these elections will decide the future of the club.“
