Real Madrid presidential candidate Enrique Riquelme has accused incumbent Florentino Perez of defamation, with 10 days to go before the elections are held. Perez and Riquelme both took part in events to explain their proposals for the next mandate on Wednesday evening.
During his event, Perez accused Riquelme’s campaign as being linked to the spell that Ramon Calderon was in charge between 2006 and 2009, and of attempting to exploit the club for their own benefit.
“They were at the centre of the sinister period in Real Madrid’s history.Now we know that this campaign is orchestrated by the same people who, in an assembly we’d all like to erase from our memories, stole the members’ sovereignty,” Cadena Cope quote.
Enrique Riquelme’s statement in response
Riquelme had given his own speech explaining his own proposals for the future of the club, but on Thursday released a statement responding to Perez’s claims, and pointing out that he was 15 years old when Calderon was in power. Marca carried his statement.
“Real Madrid deserves much more than noise, lies, self-serving rumours, and smear campaigns among Madridistas who share the same love for the club and who should never be used to limit democracy at Real Madrid. In recent hours, we have sadly witnessed how Mr. Florentino Perez and those closest to him have opted for personal attacks and tension instead of fostering a calm, elegant debate befitting the greatest sporting institution in the world.”
The statement goes on to question the role of Anas Laghrari as an unofficial advisor to Perez, calling it ‘unacceptable’ that the doubts of members around his involvement are silenced. His statement ends with a formal invitation to Perez to participate in a debate.
Riquelme’s proposals for Real Madrid mandate
Having already declared that he has a manager in mind and two star signings lined up should he take power, over the last 24 hours Riquelme has placed the focus on appeasing the members. One of his proposals, made on Cadena Cope, is to reduce the membership fee by 50% until Los Blancos lift the Champions League again.
Riquelme also suggested more tickets, and priority access to spare tickets for members, as well as the chance to recoup 70% of the price of their seat for season-ticket holders that cannot attend games. Riquelme would guarantee that Real Madrid would not be sold to an investor either. Another proposal was more transparency over the management of the VIP boxes and of the season-ticket waiting list.
Florentino Perez’s proposals for re-election
Meanwhile during his presentation, Perez promised that ‘the signings will come, as they always have’, in an event that was attended by Roberto Carlos, Ronaldo Nazario and Guti Hernandez. All three of the trio backed Perez for re-election. The current Real Madrid President also promised to fight on in the Negreira case for justice, and that members would become true owners, referencing an earlier idea to convert members into shareholders. “Infinite Bernabeu” is another proposal that Perez promised to forge ahead with, an idea to work with Apple to reproduce games in virtual reality form from the Bernabeu.
