President of Real Madrid, Florentino Perez, addressed the media in the press room of the Ciudad Real Madrid following the meeting of the Board of Directors.
Perez commenced his speech by announcing the call for elections; he said: “Thank you all for attending. I regret to inform you that I will not resign; instead, I have asked the Board to initiate the electoral process for the elections to the Board of Directors, in which the current Board of Directors will participate.”
Since 2000, Perez has worked to make sure Real Madrid owners are its member “unlike what happens in other clubs”. He said, at Real Madrid, there is no “single owner”, adding, the Club belongs to the “100,000” members.
Perez said: “Why am I calling for elections? For a simple reason. Since the year 2000, I have worked to ensure that the owners of Real Madrid are its members, unlike what happens in other clubs. At Real Madrid, there is no single owner; it belongs to the 100,000 members who form and are part of Real Madrid.”
According to Real Madrid official website, the Spanish businessman gave reasons for his decision. He said: “I have made this decision because an absurd situation has been created, driven by campaigns aimed at generating a current of opinion against the interests of Real Madrid, and especially against me.
“They take advantage of the fact that we have had results that were not the best, but this is something we accept because in sports, you don’t always win. This has happened to us many times before, but they exploit these situations to attack me personally.”
Perez continued: “They say: ‘Where is Florentino?’. Normally, I don’t speak. They say I am sick and have terminal cancer. I would like to reassure those concerned about me that every day I continue to preside over Real Madrid and my company, which, I remind you, is a world leader in infrastructure, with 170,000 employees and an annual turnover of 50 billion.
“My health is perfect because I couldn’t manage both roles without being in perfect health. I don’t know where this rumor came from.
“If they claim I have cancer, I would have to go to an oncology center for treatment. Do you think that if this were true, it wouldn’t have been reported worldwide? It is not true. They made it up and decided that I am tired. I work tirelessly. I am the first to wake up and the last to go to bed.”
Under the Presidency of Perez, Real Madrid have won “66” tiles in football and basketball – “37” in football and “29” in basketball, he told the Club’s official website.
Real Madrid, the Club with the ‘best record’:
Perez said: “I want to remind you, in case anyone has forgotten, that this is the club with the greatest record in football history and the leader in all the most important rankings.
“It is the most valuable club according to Forbes, the club with the highest revenue according to Deloitte, the most valuable football brand according to Brand Finance, and the club with the highest reputation in the world according to the World Sports Association.
“Why do journalists want to target the most prestigious, most valued club with the most followers in the world?”
Photo: Real Madrid President Florentino Perez | Real Madrid C.F./X
