Referendum announced
©IMAGO
Real Madrid wants to vote on possible share sales to investors. At the annual general meeting of the member-run association, President Florentino Pérez announced a referendum on the matter. More than ten percent should not be sold, and there should be no conversion to a football company.
“Of course we will maintain our existing association structure: our assembly with its powers, our system for electing the president and the board,” reassured Pérez, according to “realtotal.de” the approximately 100,000 Real members in relation to the planned investor entry. There should be a special meeting for the election. The reasons cited were protection against “external and internal attacks on our assets” and to emphasize the value of this “so that we are all aware of the legacy that we, the members, hold in our hands”.
The president, who is under contract with the Royals until 2029, complained that there had been “many lies” about the plan: “These attacks are nothing more than a childish attempt to destabilize the club by playing the members for fools. I have been saying for years that the club has enemies who want to appropriate our assets, as has happened at other clubs. Our economic and institutional strength, which is based on the unity of all members, is an obstacle to their plans. And therefore we are under constant attack.”
According to Pérez, bringing in external investors could help ensure that the structure of the association “can withstand the challenges of the future”. A subsidiary must be founded in which the members “always retain full control. On this basis, this subsidiary could, for example, receive a minority stake of five percent, but a maximum of ten percent, from one or more long-term committed investors who are prepared to contribute their own funds.”
Interested parties would have to respect the club’s values, contribute to growth and help “to protect our assets from external attacks. And if they want to sell their shares, Real Madrid has the right to reclaim them at any time. In short: they will be a strategic partner, never an owner.” This means Real Madrid can continue to be successful for the next 100 years, said Pérez. The Royals are currently the highest-grossing football club in the world with 1.185 billion euros in the 2024/25 season.