The Spanish engineer Florentino Pérez was reelected president of Real Madrid, winning the first contested elections in 20 years on Sunday, in a scrutiny disputed with businessman Enrique Riquelme, the leader of the Merengues confirmed. “I am here to defend Real Madrid.
We will continue working so that Real Madrid continues to win titles. Pride in having the best players in the world. Pride in having the best stadium in the world and a Madridista like José Mourinho,” he said in his victory speech.
Florentino, who announced that he won at all 60 polling stations, said that this is “an extraordinary result” and that the members gave “an example of democracy, transparency, and coexistence to the world.”
“We showed that we are a big family,” he highlighted. The voting closed a process opened by the Merengues’ leader on May 12, when he announced that he would call for elections to end what he classified as an “absurd campaign” against himself and the club.
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Florentino, 79 years old, insisted then that the goal was to guarantee that Real Madrid continued “to belong to its members.” Riquelme, 37 years old and founder of the Cox Group, presented his candidacy on the last possible day, defending a “healthy and respectful” debate and a project “in favor of Real Madrid.” His entry into the race forced the holding of elections for the first time since 2006.
Florentino’s victory comes after a season without titles—the sixth of the century—marked by the mid-season coaching change from Xabi Alonso to Álvaro Arbeloa and sporting results below expectations, including elimination in the Champions League quarter-finals against Bayern Munich.
Reelected, Florentino Pérez now begins a new mandate at the helm of the club he has led since 2000 (with an interruption between 2006 and 2009), a period in which Real conquered seven editions of the Champions League.
During the electoral campaign, the president of Real Madrid promised the hiring of Portuguese manager José Mourinho, 63 years old, currently serving at Benfica, who has reportedly already signed with the Madrid club. This will mark a return for Mourinho to Real Madrid, 13 years later, following a three-season spell in which he won one Spanish League, one Copa del Rey, and one Spanish Super Cup.
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With Mourinho heading to Madrid, Marco Silva, 48 years old, is expected to take over, according to the press, as the head coach of Benfica, after not renewing with Fulham, a club he managed for five years. Marco Silva should thus return to Portugal 10 years after having managed Sporting, a club with which he won a Portuguese Cup.
Over the last decade, the coach, who began his career at Estoril, also managed Greece’s Olympiacos—where he won a League—and England’s Hull City, Everton, and Fulham.
