Reuters
The Real Madrid presidential election took place on June 7 and was the first competitive election at the club in the last 20 years. According to the official results of voting, Perez received about 65% of the votes of club members (socios), while his rival was supported by 35% of voters. More than 33 thousand club members took part in the voting, Reuters reports.
Florentino Perez has been in charge of Real Madrid since 2000 with a short break in 2006-2009. During this time, the club has become one of the most successful and financially stable sports organizations in the world.
Maintaining the development strategy
A key theme of the election campaign was the future management of the club. Perez favored the possibility of limited outside investment, while Riquelme insisted on maintaining the traditional model in which the club is wholly owned by its members.
Both candidates also made high-profile sporting promises. Perez announced plans for major transfers and further development of the team. In particular, he announced an agreement reached with Portuguese Jose Mourinho to become the team’s head coach, and also promised a high-profile transfer of a star player for $150 million, without revealing who he was talking about.
For his part, Riquelme offered an alternative strategy to revitalize the club and increase member participation in decision-making.
The election confirmed the continuation of the course that the 79-year-old Perez has been pursuing for more than two decades. For the club, it means continuing the current strategy of development, modernizing infrastructure and strengthening commercial positions in the global sports market. According to analysts’ estimates, Real remains one of the world’s most expensive soccer brands with annual revenues of over €1 billion.
Despite the emergence of the first serious rival in many years, Florentino Perez retained control of Spain’s largest soccer club.
