Florentino and his frontal attack on Riquelme: "A Real Madrid president cannot laugh with mascots chosen by the anti-Madridistas"

"Florentino Pérez entered the hall of the Eurobuilding hotel to applause, with his thumb up and to the sound of the anthem of La Décima. Less than 24 hours remain before the polls open at Real Madrid City, and the club president chose that setting for the closing event of his reelection campaign. His speech revolved around three axes: the members' sovereignty as the inalienable legacy of his tenure, a frontal attack on Enrique Riquelme's candidacy over his transfer promises and his behavior on television, and a harsh denunciation of various media outlets.

Before taking the floor, the event began with a video reviewing his more than two decades at the helm of the club. The footage revisited the moment when he promised the signing of Figo in the 2000 elections and ended with the video of José Mourinho's "Yes", confirmed as his coach for the next cycle, and with the faces of Ibrahima Konaté and Denzel Dumfries, the first two signings revealed for his project, along with a third face yet to be revealed. The hall responded with an ovation.

'When Florentino took the microphone, the first thing he did was welcome Pope Leo XIV, who is landing in Madrid this weekend to visit the Santiago Bernabéu next Monday. "The Pope, on the plane taking him to Madrid, told reporters that he is a Real Madrid fan. For us, that is a source of pride and an honor. Welcome, Your Holiness," said the president, prompting applause in the hall.'

The member's sovereignty, the core of the discourse

The president placed the club's internal democracy at the center of his argument. "Tomorrow we once again decide our future and today I feel great satisfaction, because these elections show that the member is the sole owner of our club", he began. He recalled that when he took office in 2000 he had to personally guarantee the club's debt. "The only thing I did was put up a guarantee of 147 million euros so that the players and suppliers could be paid, in an attempt to prevent Real Madrid from ceasing to be ours, and we achieved it."

Florentino claimed that legacy as the central argument against those who, he said, question his management. "I have worked and will continue working to defend the sovereignty of the club member, so that we can all vote as we are going to do tomorrow. With me, people who were not Real Madrid club members could never vote".

It was then that he launched one of the morning’s most direct attacks, alluding to the assembly held during the presidency of Ramón Calderón. "With me, that shameful assembly from a period we all want to forget would be unthinkable. There, with the consent of Calderón’s Board of Directors, they slipped in people who were not members and even Atlético de Madrid ultras to vote in favor of that board." And he added, with an unmistakable reference to Enrique Riquelme: "Now, some of those directors or their sons are running in this candidacy. The candidate himself is the son of one of those who were part of the Board of Directors back then".

The frontal attack on Riquelme

The most combative part of the speech came when Florentino addressed the episodes of the last week of the campaign. Without mentioning his rival by name at any point, he was devastating. "We Real Madrid members will not allow lies, not everything goes. There are those who have no scruples and use the Real Madrid shirt to embarrass the members".

He referred sarcastically to the announcement of the signing of Erling Haaland that Riquelme made on El Hormiguero as his marquee signing. "We have had to endure the embarrassment of a hoax being launched on a television show to deceive the club members, and then minutes later the player's father, the player's agent, and the player himself, who was at Manchester City, deny it categorically and threaten to take legal action. This is something that surely causes them no embarrassment, but for all Real Madrid club members, and for me in particular, it causes great shame. And that ridicule seems to have no end".

'Even more hurtful was his reference to the previous day's episode, when the rival candidacy put forward the name of Jürgen Klopp, whom Raúl, Riquelme's sporting director, intends to bring in for the project. "Last night they put forward the name of a coach to go and speak with him, and this coach responded a few minutes later saying he wouldn't even bother. But didn't they have a coach who was active and already signed at the start of the campaign? These gentlemen will stoop to anything".'

'Faced with that, Florentino put forward his own model. "I do not present jerseys so that a host can put on his show. I bring the best players in the world here to Real Madrid. What I promise, I deliver. And that is how I have earned credibility." He went further when referring to the episode about the name for a possible club mascot that Pablo Motos brought up in a lighthearted way during a short part of the interview with Riquelme on El Hormiguero: "It is about having respect for our crest and our symbols. And not laughing along with a host who insults us with mascots chosen by anti-Madridistas who seek to mock the most important club in the world." And he concluded: "The Real Madrid shirt is not stained by lies. The symbols of Real Madrid are not stained and do not deserve to be despised by someone who wants to be president of Real Madrid".'

The media and the Negreira case

Florentino extended his criticism beyond the rival candidacy and pointed directly at part of the press. "This campaign will go down in history for the role certain journalists and some media outlets are playing. Their collusion with the candidacy of lies has crossed every red line. They are specialists in hoaxes and go hand in hand with our enemies."

He also brought up the Negreira case as one of the battles that, in his view, sets his candidacy apart from the opposing one. "I never forget the Negreira case. Some do seem to have a very short memory when it comes to this. To attack Madrid, yes, but not to defend it from the biggest alleged corruption scandal in the history of sport. I am here to see this through to the very end".

Referendum promise

In the final stretch of the speech, Florentino returned to the economic figures to rebut the criticism of his management. "We are leaders in all the most prestigious rankings in the sports industry. Forger recognized us this week as the most valuable football club in the world. We are the club with the highest revenue in the history of sport, above any sports institution. We brought in 1.25 billion euros this season and we will soon reach 2 billion. And with these figures they keep lying and saying that the accounts are doing badly".

He also referred to the youth academy. "Our youth team has won the treble: Youth League champions, League champions and Cup champions. And they come to lecture us about DNA. Our DNA is to never give up and to have respect for what we are."

He closed with the proposal he has been referencing for months and the one he put forward as a campaign pledge: to call a referendum among the members for any significant amendment to the bylaws. "You will be the owners also in economic terms, not only emotionally and sentimentally. So that all of us members are owners of our economic assets."

'Before saying goodbye, Florentino made an explicit call for participation. "I ask you to go vote so that we can continue defending Real Madrid all together. Our future is at stake. The members are the owners of the club, the owners of our successes, the owners of the Bernabéu, the owners of our titles. The members are and will also be the owners of Real Madrid in economic terms." And he concluded: "For those who made us Madridistas, for them and for us, go vote because we still have a lot of history to make."'

The hall responded with a new ovation. Florentino posed alongside the rest of his Board of Directors while the original Real Madrid anthem played. Tomorrow, from 9:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m., the club's nearly 100,000 members will have the final say in Valdebebas.

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