The president of Real Madrid, Florentino Pérez, presented this Sunday to the ordinary general meeting of representative members the general lines of the corporate change that he has been considering for months to “protect the club from internal and external attacks”, he said. It envisages the creation of a member-owned subsidiary in which it would allow the entry of one or more very long-term committed investors with “one, for example, 5%”. Under no circumstances is it expected to exceed 10%, according to sources close to the project. This investor “would be a strategic ally and never an owner”. It could not directly resell its stake to third parties, but would retain a preferential repurchase right.
At the same time, Madrid’s current form of sporting entity would be preserved, with the same governing bodies and the same process for electing the president, for example. Pérez will bring the necessary statutory changes to the next extraordinary meeting, still undated, in which he asks for a referendum to be called so that the members can decide on the plan.
The investor’s entry would also function as a sort of valuation: “It’s the clearest and strongest way we have to value the club,” he said. The price paid for the part determines the value of the whole. Another objective of this change, according to Pérez, is to allow the club’s assets to actually pass to its members: “They believe that the
Nero belongs to the members, but now he belongs to no one. I want to pass it on to the members so that they don’t take it away from us – he said. Now the club belongs to the members and when we die they bury us and we leave nothing to anyone.” His proposal includes the possibility that shares can be bought and sold between members; they can also be inherited. It will be a limited number, which will be established with the number of members existing at the time of approval. “We must be aware that we are all owners of Real Madrid. And with this reform we will be even more so,” he said. “This step means ensuring that our history remains alive for the next hundred years.”
Florentino Pérez presented these ideas in an unusual extraordinary speech at the meetings, after completing the first one, the one included on the agenda, dedicated to taking stock of the club’s current affairs. Even after the accounts for the 2024/25 season were approved almost unanimously, with a record taking of 1,185 million euros and the budgets for the 2025/26 season, which provide for a new increase to 1,248 million.
The toughest Florentine
That first speech, which lasted more than an hour and a quarter, revealed the tougher face of the Real Madrid president, with some of his traditional objectives (Javier Tebas, the referees and UEFA) and with a notable change compared to Barcelona. In last year’s meeting he was conciliatory when faced with the question of a deputy who asked for more firmness: “I won’t get angry with Barça”, he said. “If we ignore the brawls between fans every Sunday, Barça and Real Madrid must help each other, I say this with all sincerity.” That spirit has evaporated.
Pérez was full of references to the Negreira case: “It is not normal that Barcelona have paid eight million euros to the vice president of referees for at least 17 years,” he began. “Whatever the reason. And I repeat; whatever the reason. Which also coincides, coincidentally, with Barcelona’s best sporting results in our country.”
The Real Madrid president used the expulsion balance sheet of the two clubs to suggest the effect of the payments to the number two Spanish referees: “In the 21st century, Real Madrid accumulates a net balance of -2 expulsions.” That is to say that in the league matches they have sent off two more players from Madrid than their rivals. “In this same period, Barcelona has a record of +61 red cards”, which is the number of more red cards that their rivals have seen in matches against the Blaugrana. “However, in the same period of time, in European competitions, Real Madrid and Barcelona enjoy practically the same positive balance, +12 and +13.” And he concluded: “Does it seem normal to anyone that there are Real Madrid players who have more European Cups than League titles?”
The change of tone with Barça has to do with the distancing of the club presided by Joan Laporta from some of the battles undertaken by Pérez, such as the Super League or the fight against Tebas and CVC, something he linked in his speech: “Barcelona opposed judicially, at the beginning, the CVC operation, together with Athletic Club and together with us. Coincidentally, Barcelona abandoned this case coinciding with the authorization by the LaLiga to be able to register players in the future.”
Regarding Tebas and the collaboration with CVC, Pérez criticized this project: “It is not normal that the president of La Liga promotes an investment fund like CVC to mortgage the future of Spanish football for 50 years, that is, for half a century.” Also the growth in his salary, higher, according to him, than that received by Premier League managers; and his failed plan to bring a game to Miami. “The president of the League abused his authority and will be held responsible.”
Following the recent custom of assemblies, the aforementioned responded through his
He also insisted in his defense of the Super League: “We did not come here to draw up judicial sentences, but to put them into practice.” He assured that he had received private support from a multitude of clubs and focused above all on defending football broadcasting that was free and open to all, as happened last summer during the Club World Cup. “It is not normal that in the 21st century watching football on television is increasingly expensive; an increasingly expensive product does nothing but drive fans away from football.”
