Kai E. Iliev can be found on social media here, and if you’re hungry for more, his excellent work can be found on here too.
Real Madrid President Florentino Perez was never among the big mouths of Spanish football, or at least, not directly. He doesn’t have the bombastic character of Joan Laporta or the narcissism of Javier Tebas. For years, he only rarely talked to the media with his face behind his words (since he owns half of it anyway) until last week. In many ways, it was better that way.
I wish I hadn’t heard his words. It started with Real Madrid’s president calling for elections. They arguably don’t matter since their fairness is equivalent to North Korea’s, given that fewer than five people in this country can afford to provide the bank guarantee required for the threshold needed to stand in the elections. You are more likely to win the jackpot in Spain’s Christmas lottery than you are to appear against Perez in the elections. Somehow, this was the least controversial part of the press conference.
It’s not news that Perez isn’t progressive in his social views. He’s a typical white old
man, sitting on loads of cash through the club as well as his company, ACS. The construction conglomerate were given a new contract by the Spanish Ministry of Defence last autumn, which, in other words, means that Spain’s 10th richest person is getting richer. It probably is one of the many reasons why Madrid’s president has been nonchalant about his club’s success – it’s one of many money-making sources he possesses.
When fans expected Perez to take leadership, he failed them. In a classic Spanish
way – at least in La Liga – he victimised himself instead of addressing any of the core
issues. He claimed the media was against him, and ranted about the Negreira case, a familiar recourse at Real Madrid this days. Worse even, his personal attacks led him to call journalists ‘ugly’, and he didn’t have a great time with the ABC Journalist Maria Jose Fuentealamo, claiming that: “Look at these two articles they’ve published today. One of them was written by a woman who I don’t know if she knows anything about football or not:”
In 2026, resorting to misogyny in football is appalling to say the least. Coincidentally, ABC’s director was changed half an hour after this argument, related or not to the incident. Perez, until this week, was the only stable element of the club. Alvaro Arbeloa lost the dressing room a long time ago, evidenced by the multiple disputes (some physical) behind the scenes. He had already fired Xabi Alonso, who also couldn’t convince the lads of his ideas. Arbeloa was supposed to calm things down, because a yes-man is always a good idea. Or not quite, given that the only thing I remember from his tenure is his mea culpa after every disappointing performance.
This season has been among the worst in recent years for Madrid, despite the arrival of Kylian
Mbappe. Real Madrid have lost, much to the pleasure of the Catalans. There are many reasons as to why self-criticism is urgently needed at Real Madrid. Yet Perez went ballistic instead, and decided to fire shots at anyone – even targeting South American accents. I’ve never seen so many journalists – regardless of their affiliations – remain speechless after listening to a decaying old man, who has become the football equivalent of Trump.
Perez tried to divert the attention. He wanted Marca, ABC, and Diario AS to talk less about
an imploding dressing room. It usually works, but this time, it didn’t. He tried too hard
by attacking virtually every person he could. Barcelona reacted within an hour with a
statement, due to the many accusations [regarding Negreira] among other things.
Knowing Laporta, I wouldn’t be surprised if he uses this incident for political point-scoring. After universal criticism, Perez decided the answer was to continue speaking. This time, to El Chiringuito’s Josep Pedrerol. At least he found a suitable setting for his level of seriousness.
