Florentino Pérez will continue as president of Real Madrid. The club's top leader for the past 17 years has defeated Enrique Riquelme in the first elections for the club's governance in two decades, which have seen the highest voter turnout in history: over 33,000 votes. Pérez has achieved the second-best result in Madrid elections, although few expected Riquelme to reach 35% of the votes. Official data shows the candidates received 65-35 in the percentage of support. This result raises questions about Riquelme's future and leaves Florentino with some doubts regarding a potential referendum for societary change.
The vote count started late because in the initial count, concerning postal votes, 1,000 votes were contested out of 4,000, due to form defects. All were in favor of Florentino's candidacy. The count lasted until almost 1 a.m., when Florentino entered the main hall of the Eurobuilding amidst chants of "President, president!".
"We have won in all polling stations, that is, in all age groups. Have no doubt, Real Madrid will continue to belong to its members," he remarked. "It's an extraordinary result. It could have been better because nearly a thousand votes were annulled, and we will appeal," he added, focusing on Jose Mourinho: "We will continue working, being proud of the Bernabéu, one of the best teams in the world, and one of the best coaches in the world like Jose Mourinho." He addressed "those who did not vote for me," stating, "I will listen to all their explanations and suggestions. We have a great sensitivity to hear their problems. We will be much closer to our members," he celebrated.
Over an hour later, around 2:15 a.m., Madrid announced the official results: 21,741 votes for Florentino and 11,814 for Riquelme.
These are the third elections won by Pérez after those in 2000 and 2004, where he defeated Lorenzo Sanz in both, and the fourth where he faced a rival, losing to Mendoza in 1995. In other attempts, he ran unopposed, securing the top position at Chamartín.
"Congratulations to Florentino for his victory. Also to the Madrid members who were able to vote. It's a great victory for this candidacy. For us, this is not the end, it's the beginning," Riquelme stated. "Madrid will not go 20 years without another election. Real Madrid members will continue to vote every four years," he emphasized.
In terms of sports, Pérez confirmed during the campaign the return of Mourinho and the signings of defenders Konaté and Dumfries, so we could witness Mourinho's presentation at Valdebebas this week. Additionally, as announced last Thursday, an offer of 150 million for "a player from a Champions club" is expected to be made this Tuesday, which, as this newspaper learned, refers to Michael Olise, a forward from Bayern Munich.
It was a historic day at Valdebebas. Despite logistical challenges due to the Pope's mass causing chaos in the capital, there was an extraordinary turnout of members. From early morning, Madrid fans entered the basketball pavilion at the sports city. Many had not voted for 20 years, while others were voting for the first time. On the basketball court, 60 polling stations and a census of 70,000 people.
Florentino cast his vote at 9:57 a.m. at polling station number 2, accompanied by his daughter Cuchy and Fernández de Blas, one of his vice presidents, while Riquelme arrived at 10:50 a.m. The young candidate received both applause and some boos, reflecting the tension of the final campaign days.
Both candidates were greeted by crowds as they left the venue, with fans queuing for hours to take photos with them. The Madrid fans were eager for these elections.
Riquelme, a 37-year-old businessman, will now remain in opposition while Florentino, aged 79, embarks on a new mandate, the eighth one, extending his tenure to 27 years at the helm of Madrid, still far from the 35 years of Santiago Bernabéu. With many challenges ahead, both in sports and institutionally, Pérez will now have to address the societary change within the club: creating a subsidiary to transfer the football business and sell a percentage of it. This move will require a referendum following the interesting election results.
This shift, a major point of debate in the elections, holds the key to Madrid's near future. Pérez stresses that being a member should no longer be "romantic and sentimental" but rather, for the first time, they should be "economic owners of the club," with this relationship passing down through generations regarding the economic heritage. Additionally, regarding this subsidiary, Florentino maintains that it will never affect the club's governance: "If at any point the members decide to bring in an investor with a maximum of 5% ownership to assess the club, that brand, globally or otherwise, will not dictate the club's decisions and will not participate in any of its choices," he explained in recent days.