Clear vote
Power struggle at Real Madrid – decision made
June 8, 2026 – 2:03 a.mReading time: 3 minutes
Real Madrid is in crisis. Long-time club boss Florentino Pérez is coming under pressure. But now the construction magnate can breathe a sigh of relief. How does he want to lead the Royals back to the path of success?
Even after two disappointing years in sport and much criticism of his leadership, Florentino Pérez remains president of Real Madrid. The 79-year-old construction magnate clearly prevailed against his challenger, the young entrepreneur Enrique Riquelme, in the first presidential election for the Spanish football record champions in 20 years. Riquelme admitted this to journalists before the official result was announced.
This gave Pérez a mandate for another term until 2030. With a three-year break between 2006 and 2009, the billionaire entrepreneur has been at the club’s helm since 2000. “It’s a very happy day for me and for madridismo,” Pérez told journalists on Monday night. “We will give everything to win the Champions League for the 16th time.”
Almost a month ago – a few days after Los Blancos’ 2-0 defeat in the “Clásico” at FC Barcelona, which secured the league title for their arch-rivals – Pérez called the vote as a kind of vote of confidence. Previously, Real had, among other things, failed in the round of 16 of the Spanish Cup against second division team Albacete and was eliminated in the quarter-finals of the Champions League against FC Bayern Munich.
High admission hurdles make it difficult to run against Pérez
The long-time club boss complained about a “campaign” against him after the series of bankruptcies. “They say I’m sick, I have incurable cancer. I’m taking the opportunity to tell the people who care about me: I’ll continue to run the club and also my company, which has a turnover of 50 billion a year. My health is perfect,” emphasized Pérez in May.
After initially leading the noble club between 2000 and 2006 and shaping the “Galactic” era around Luís Figo, Ronaldo Fenómeno, Zinédine Zidane and David Beckham, Pérez regained the presidency in 2009 without any opposition. Since then, no challenger has met the high eligibility criteria for a candidacy, so Pérez has been confirmed in office again and again without a vote.
In order to be allowed to run, Riquelme had to, among other things, deposit a guarantee of around 187 million euros. This corresponds to 15 percent of the club’s total budget of almost 1.2 billion euros. However, his dream was dashed in the election at the Ciudad Real Madrid training center in the Valdebebas district, in which around 70,000 club members were entitled to vote.
Pérez is counting on the return of coach José Mourinho
Before the election, Pérez promised “continuity.” He referred to the sporting successes that the club achieved with him as boss, and not just in football. And he also highlighted the economic strength of the club under his aegis as well as the comprehensive modernization of the Santiago Bernabéu stadium.