Florentino Pérez Re-Elected Real Madrid President Until 2030 — Mourinho and Major Transfers Promised

79-year-old Florentino Pérez has retained the presidency of Real Madrid following the election. For the first time in 15 years, he faced a real rival — businessman Enrique Riquelme. The latter congratulated the winner even before the official results were announced. Pérez will thus remain president of Real Madrid until 2030.

"It was a great day for Real Madrid. We won at every polling station and achieved the second-best result in the history of the club's elections," Pérez declared. The president also announced his intention to challenge the decision to invalidate around a thousand ballots.

The early presidential election at Real Madrid was announced on 12 May. Pérez called an emergency press conference amid a series of scandals that had shaken the club. Among them were the conflict between footballers Valverde and Tchouaméni, which ended with the Uruguayan being hospitalised; Mbappé's trip with his girlfriend, Ester Expósito, during his recovery from injury; and Álvaro Carreras's admission of receiving a slap from Rüdiger. Finally, the French forward missed El Clásico. All of this created the image of a fractured and demoralised team.

In response to the crisis, Pérez called the election. For Pérez himself, the appearance of a real rival, Alicante businessman Enrique Riquelme, came as a surprise, since over the last 15 years he had been re-elected unopposed.

One of Pérez's main promises is to appoint José Mourinho as the club's head coach. After a lacklustre season, in which Xabi Alonso left in January and Álvaro Arbeloa served as interim manager, Pérez decided to begin the rebuild with the coaching staff. Benfica has already officially confirmed the Portuguese's departure, notifying the Portuguese stock exchange.

The Real Madrid president also announced high-profile transfers. Dumfries (a defender from Inter) and Konaté (a centre-back from Liverpool) will become new players. In addition, Pérez announced "the biggest offer in Real Madrid's history." The player's name has not been revealed, but Spanish media have named three candidates: the Portuguese Vitinha of PSG, his compatriot João Neves of Benfica, and the Frenchman Michael Olise of Bayern.

At the same time as the presidential election, Real Madrid demanded that UEFA strip Barcelona of 23 titles won between 2001 and 2018, over the Negreira case. This is one of the largest corruption scandals in the history of Spanish football. From 2001 to 2018, Barcelona regularly paid money to a company owned by José María Enríquez Negreira, vice-president of the refereeing committee of the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF). Over 17 years, the club transferred around €7.5 million.

Barcelona explained the payments as payment for consulting services, claiming that Negreira gave advice on dealing with referees. The prosecution insists that the real aim was to influence refereeing decisions in the club's favour. The case is still being heard in the Spanish courts. UEFA has paused, awaiting a court ruling.