On May 12, “Real” president Florentino Pérez addressed journalists for the first time since December 2015 with a detailed public address. The event, held in the press room of the Ciudad Real Madrid training ground, lasted approximately 90 minutes. The press conference was announced at the last minute, following a board meeting.

Elections

The main news of the speech was the announcement of early presidential elections. Opening the press conference, Pérez declared: "I am not resigning. I am calling for new elections at the club." Florentino was re-elected as “Real” president in 2025, and his term was set to run until 2029. According to Pérez, anyone is free to run for president, but he urged potential opponents to follow official procedures rather than through media publications.

Health

A separate agenda item was the refutation of rumors about the president's serious illness. Pérez stated that he is in perfect health, runs a major construction company with 170 000 employees and an annual turnover of €50 billion, and dismissed the circulating reports of terminal cancer as fiction.

Dressing room conflict

Pérez also commented on the widely publicized brawl between midfielders Federico Valverde and Aurélien Tchouameni. The president said similar incidents had occurred at the club throughout his tenure, but he considered information leaks from the dressing room to be a far more serious problem.

Refereeing controversies and the Negreira case

Pérez announced that the club is preparing a 600-page dossier for UEFA on the Negreira case, insisting that the scandal is damaging not only “Real” but all of Spanish football. He also expressed concerns about refereeing in the Spanish league, describing the situation as systemic.

Atmosphere and reaction

During his speech, Pérez criticized several journalists by name, including addressing a specific author directly from the podium. Among the topics he identified as hostile to “Real” were certain members of the press, fan ultra-groups, and, according to him, a certain businessman with a "Mexican accent" who is allegedly acting against the club's interests.

“Barcelona”, for its part, released an official statement in which it said its legal department was carefully studying Perez's statements and assessing possible next steps.