Florentino Pérez
Pérez in 2022
15th President of Real Madrid
Assumed office
1 June 2009
Preceded byVicente Boluda
In office
16 July 2000 – 27 February 2006
Preceded byLorenzo Sanz
Succeeded byFernando Martín Álvarez (unofficial)
Ramón Calderón
Born
Florentino Pérez Rodríguez

(1947-03-08) 8 March 1947
Hortaleza, Madrid, Spain
Alma materTechnical University of Madrid
Occupation(s)Businessman, civil engineer, sports club president
Known for
Board member ofChairman of Grupo ACS
SpouseMaría Ángeles "Pitina" Sandoval Montero (d. 2012)[1]
Signature

Florentino Pérez Rodríguez (Spanish pronunciation: [floɾenˈtino ˈpeɾes roˈðɾiɣeθ]; born 8 March 1947) is a Spanish businessman and the current president of football club Real Madrid, as well as Chairman and CEO of Grupo ACS, a civil engineering company.

He has been President of Real Madrid from 2000 to 2006 and 2009 onwards. During his first six years as president, he implemented the Galácticos policy of bringing the world's best players to Real Madrid. In his first four seasons in charge, he bought Luís Figo from arch-rivals Barcelona, Zinedine Zidane for a then-world record transfer fee, Ronaldo and David Beckham. From the 2003–04 season onward, the club failed to win a trophy, leading Pérez to resign in 2006.

He assumed office again in 2009. In his first summer, he bought Kaká to the club, as well as Cristiano Ronaldo for a then-world record transfer fee. In domestic competitions, Real was challenged by a Barcelona team led by Pep Guardiola and an Atlético de Madrid team led by Diego Simeone. Real was coached by managers such as Jose Mourinho, Carlo Ancelotti and Zinedine Zidane. Over the course of nine seasons from 2013 to 2022, Real won five Champions League titles.

Early career

Pérez attended the Polytechnic University of Madrid.[2] Pérez joined the Union of the Democratic Centre party in 1979, serving among others on Madrid's city council.[3] In 1986, Pérez ran in the Spanish general elections as candidate for the Democratic Reformist Party (Partido Reformista Democrático) and served as its secretary-general.[2]

In 1993, Pérez was named vice Chairman of OCP Construcciones. After the merger of OCP with Gines y Navarro into Actividades de Construcción y Servicios, S.A. (ACS) in 1997, he became Chairman of the new company. As of 2018, Pérez leads Grupo ACS,[4] Spain's largest construction company, and has a net worth of $2.5 billion.[5]

Real Madrid presidency

First term

Pérez took over as president of Real Madrid in 2000, beating the incumbent president at that time, Lorenzo Sanz. Sanz assumed that the recently won UEFA Champions Leagues in 1998 and 2000 would give him enough credit to win the elections, but Pérez's campaign, once again highlighting the financial problems of the club and claims of mismanagement by the previous boards, proved otherwise. Pérez's promise to bring in Luís Figo from arch-rivals Barcelona also played a decisive role in the elections. Pérez was reelected in 2004 with 94.2% of the total votes.

Figo also marked the start of Pérez's policy to bring one of the best football players in the world to Real Madrid each season. The strategy was initially known as that of Zidanes y Pavones in which superstars would play alongside the Canteranos, but the players were soon popularly referred to as Galácticos. In 2001, Zinedine Zidane was signed from Juventus for a then-world record transfer fee of €77.5 million. He was followed by Ronaldo in 2002, David Beckham in 2003, Michael Owen in 2004, and Robinho for a short time in 2005. Initially, Pérez's policy worked to great success, as each new Galáctico had the squad built around them, and the team had a good balance between attack and defence. In his first years in office, Real Madrid won two Spanish championships and its record ninth UEFA Champions League. Pérez claimed success in clearing the club's debt; however, this was contradicted by director Ramón Calderón.

Several years after leaving Real, Fernando Hierro stated that Claude Makélélé had been the club's most important and least appreciated midfielder, saying: "The loss of Makélélé was the beginning of the end for Los Galácticos... You can see that it was also the beginning of a new dawn for Chelsea."[6] From the 2003–04 season onward, with the absence of manager Vicente del Bosque and Makelele, Real Madrid failed to win a trophy.

Although Pérez's policy resulted in increased financial success based on the exploitation of the club's high marketing potential around the world, especially in Asia, it came under increasing criticism for being focused too much on marketing the Real Madrid brand and not enough on the football. He announced his resignation on 27 February 2006, acknowledging that the team and the club as a whole needed a new direction.[7]

Second term

On 14 May 2009, Pérez announced his candidacy for president of Real Madrid in a press conference at the Hotel Ritz Madrid.[8] On 1 June, given that he was the only candidate able to provide the €57,389,000 guarantee necessary to run for the presidency, Pérez was announced as the new president of Real Madrid.[9][10]

In his second term, Pérez continued with the Galácticos policy pursued during his first term. On 8 June, he bought Kaká from Milan for just under £60 million,[11] while on 11 June, Manchester United accepted an £80 million offer for Cristiano Ronaldo, which would once again break the world record. On 25 June, Pérez and Real Madrid announced the signing of Valencia centre-back Raúl Albiol for €15 million.[12] On 1 July, Pérez bought Karim Benzema from Olympique Lyonnais for a fee of at least £30 million, which could rise to £35 million, depending on the player's success. On 5 August, Real Madrid confirmed the signing of Xabi Alonso from Liverpool for £30 million;[13] Alonso became the second Liverpool player to join Real Madrid in the same transfer window after full-back Álvaro Arbeloa's £5 million switch to the Santiago Bernabéu in July. On 31 May 2010, Pérez presented José Mourinho as the new manager of Real Madrid in a £6.8 million deal.

Pérez with President of the Community of Madrid Cristina Cifuentes in a Champions League trophy presentation ceremony at Puerta del Sol in 2017

During the next three years, Pérez brought a lot of new faces to the team, including the German wonderkid Mesut Özil, and Ángel Di María, who both attracted attention from Europe's elite football clubs during the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. The squad managed to break Barcelona's dominance, winning the Copa del Rey in 2011 and then clinching La Liga title in 2012 with record-breaking 100 points. Additionally, in 2011 Madrid reached the semi-final stage of the Champions League for the first time since 2003.[14][15] In his third season, Mourinho led the team to its third consecutive Champions League semi-finals, second place in the league and advanced to the Copa del Rey final, where Real lost to Atlético after extra time. However, lacking a major trophy encouraged Mourinho to depart for his former club Chelsea.[16]

On 2 June 2013, Pérez was awarded a fourth term as the Real Madrid president, bringing in Carlo Ancelotti to replace Mourinho. Mesut Özil and Gonzalo Higuaín were sold to Arsenal[17] and Napoli,[18] respectively, at the start of the season to secure spots for Luka Modrić and Karim Benzema in the first team. Pérez also brought in Welsh footballer and PFA Player of the Year[19] Gareth Bale, purchased from Tottenham Hotspur for a fee reported to be in the £86 million range, yet again breaking the world record.[20] Two promising Spanish talents, playmaker Isco[21] and holding midfielder Asier Illarramendi,[22] were also secured by Pérez prior to the start of the season. The following season proved to be a resounding success, as Real Madrid won the Copa del Rey and its tenth Champions League title.[23]

Pérez with Mayor of Madrid Manuela Carmena in 2019, presenting the New Santiago Bernabéu

During the 2014 summer transfer window, Pérez brought in 2014 FIFA World Cup stars James Rodríguez,[24] Toni Kroos,[25] and Keylor Navas[26] to Real Madrid for a combined cost of £95 million, as well as Javier Hernández on a loan deal from Manchester United. As a result of the mounting competition for starting spots and wage disputes, Di María left the club for Manchester United for a British record transfer fee of £60 million.[27] Xabi Alonso also left during this transfer window to join Bayern Munich.[28] In January 2015, Pérez demonstrated his success in the transfer market when Real Madrid signed the 16-year-old Norwegian Martin Ødegaard in competition with many of the big clubs in Europe, including Bayern, Barcelona and Arsenal.

Later on, Real Madrid, coached by former player Frenchman Zinedine Zidane, proceeded to win three consecutive Champions League titles in 2015–16, 2016–17 and 2017–18, a feat not achieved since Bayern Munich had won their third consecutive title in 1975–76.[29] In 2019, he revealed the plans to renovate the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium.[30]

In the 2019–20 season, Real Madrid won their 34th La Liga title which was their fifth under Pérez and second under coach Zidane.[31] In the 2021–22 season, Real Madrid won their sixth La Liga and sixth Champions League title under Pérez, meaning he managed to equal the record of Santiago Bernabéu for the latter.[32]

European Super League

In April 2021, Pérez was named the first chairman of the Super League,[33] a breakaway league involving some of Europe's largest football clubs. According to The New York Times, Pérez "had been the driving force behind much of it; it was, to some extent, his brainchild."[34] Spearheaded by Pérez and Andrea Agnelli of Juventus, the Super League was in the works for three years; however, the final phases were rushed, and allegiance among the twelve clubs, instead of the fifteen as originally planned, seemed to have been forged under pressure. The announcement was unexpectedly poorly planned, devoid of real content, and the coalition, liable to break under pressure, came apart quickly.[35] Pérez expressed hope that the new competition would "provide higher-quality matches and additional financial resources for the overall football pyramid", provide "significantly greater economic growth and support for European football via a long-term commitment to uncapped solidarity payments which will grow in line with league revenues",[33] appeal to a new younger generation of football fans, and improve VAR and refereeing.[36][37]

The 18 April announcement of the European Super League (ESL) received almost universal opposition from fans, players, managers, politicians, and other clubs as well as UEFA, FIFA, and national governments.[38] Much of the criticism against the ESL was due to concerns about elitism and the lack of competitiveness within the competition, as it would have consisted of only high-ranking teams from a few European countries.[39][40] Backlash against the announcement of the league's formation led to nine of the clubs involved, including all six of the English clubs, announcing their intention to withdraw.[41] The remaining members of the ESL subsequently announced they would "reconsider the most appropriate steps to reshape the project" following the departure of the other clubs.[42] Three days after its founding, the ESL announced that it was suspending its operations.[43]

Commentators argued that the ESL could render domestic competitions as irrelevant and lower tier compared to the Super League, and it would destroy the ideas behind promotion and relegation systems; Pérez later countered this with claims that the ESL would have a system of promotion and relegation.[34][36] Pérez alleged that Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund, and Paris Saint-Germain, which were reportedly sought out by the ESL and gave them between 14 and 30 days to join[44][45] but who rejected involvement in the competition and publicly condemned the concept,[46][47] had not been invited.[37] Pérez cited the European basketball EuroLeague as an inspiration and stated that the EuroLeague saved European basketball, and the Super League would do the same for football.[48][49][50]

After the backlash and withdrawals, Pérez stated that none of the founding clubs had officially left the association,[51] as they were tied to binding contracts,[52] and vowed to work with the governing bodies to make some form of the Super League work. Whilst blaming the English clubs of losing their nerve in face of opposition and the footballing authorities for acting unjustifiably aggressively,[53] Pérez insisted that the Super League project was merely on standby and not over.[54] In response to UEFA's sanctions and possible Real Madrid's exclusion from UEFA competitions, among the other clubs involved, Pérez said that this would be "impossible" and that the law protects them.[55][56]

On 31 May, the Super League filed a complaint to the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) against UEFA and FIFA for their proposals to stop the organization of the competition.[57] On June 7, the Swiss Federal Department of Justice and Police notified the Spanish precautionary measure, which had earlier issued an injunction against UEFA and FIFA, and referred a cuestión preliminar (English: preliminary question) to the CJEU on whether UEFA and FIFA have violated articles 101 and 102 of the TFEU,[58] to both governing bodies, ruling them to not execute sanctions against clubs still active in the project, including Real Madrid.[59] On 15 June, it was officially confirmed Real Madrid, Barcelona, and Juventus were admitted to the 2021–22 UEFA Champions League.[60]

In July 2021, El Confidencial published audio of Pérez recorded by José Antonio Abellán from 2006 and 2012, in which he insulted many Real Madrid players such as Raúl, Iker Casillas, Luís Figo, Guti, Cristiano Ronaldo, Mesut Özil and others.[61][62] However, Real Madrid had issued a statement claiming that the leaks came at a time when Pérez was involved in promoting the Super League.[63]

Personal life

Pérez married María de los Ángeles Sandoval Montero in 1970, with whom he had Eduardo, Florentino and María Ángeles. His wife died on 23 May 2012, aged 62, due to a heart attack.[64]

During the COVID-19 pandemic in Spain, Pérez tested positive on 2 February 2021, but had no symptoms.[65]

Honours

Awards

References

  1. ↑ "Death of "Pitina" Sandoval".
  2. 1 2 "Florentino Perez". Forbes. 24 October 2022.
  3. ↑ "Nuevos delegados de Saneamiento, Obras y Gerencia Municipal de Urbanismo". El País. 6 May 1976.
  4. ↑ "Grupo ACS". Grupoacs.com. Retrieved 21 April 2021.
  5. ↑ "Florentino Perez". Forbes.
  6. ↑ "Hierro's hunger drives Bolton to brink of history". Fernando Hierro.com. 30 April 2005. Retrieved 30 March 2007.
  7. ↑ Costello, Miles; Naughton, Philippe (28 February 2006). "President quits troubled Real". The Times. London. Retrieved 27 October 2010.
  8. ↑ "Perez makes presidential promise". SkySports.
  9. ↑ "Real Madrid News – Real Madrid CF". Real Madrid C.F. – Web Oficial.
  10. ↑ "Perez to return as Real president". BBC Sport. 1 June 2009. Retrieved 3 June 2009.
  11. ↑ "Kaka completes Real Madrid switch". 9 June 2009. Retrieved 21 April 2021.
  12. ↑ "Raul Albiol, new Real Madrid player". Archived from the original on 28 June 2009. Retrieved 25 June 2009. and Karim Benzema from Lyon.
  13. ↑ "Alonso completes £30m Real move". 5 August 2009. Retrieved 21 April 2021.
  14. ↑ "Madrid clinch Copa del Rey".
  15. ↑ "Spanish Primera División Table – ESPN FC". espnfc.com.
  16. ↑ "Real Madrid: Highs and Lows of Their 2012-13 Season". Samuel Marsden. Bleacher Report. 31 May 2013. Retrieved 10 August 2022.
  17. ↑ "Mesut Ozil: Arsenal sign Real Madrid midfielder for £42.4m". BBC. 2 September 2013.
  18. ↑ "Gonzalo Higuain: Real Madrid striker completes move to Napoli". BBC. 27 July 2013.
  19. ↑ "Gareth Bale wins PFA Player of Year and Young Player awards". BBC. 28 April 2013.
  20. ↑ Hodgson, Andy (24 September 2013). "The £86m bargain: Gareth Bale has come cheaply insists Real Madrid". www.standard.co.uk. Retrieved 21 April 2021.
  21. ↑ "Isco: Real Madrid agree deal for Manchester City target". BBC. 27 June 2013.
  22. ↑ "Real Madrid reveal €32.19 million Illarra fee | Goal.com". www.goal.com. Retrieved 21 April 2021.
  23. ↑ "Real Madrid Claims 'La Decima' with Champions League Win over Atletico Madrid". bleacher report. 26 May 2014. Retrieved 6 January 2023.
  24. ↑ Guardian Staff (22 July 2014). "James Rodríguez signs for Real Madrid for a reported £63m". The Guardian.
  25. ↑ "Real Madrid sign Bayern's Kroos". BBC Sport. Retrieved 21 April 2021.
  26. ↑ "Real Madrid confirm signing of Costa Rica's goalkeeper Keylor Navas". The Guardian. Press Association. 3 August 2014.
  27. ↑ "Angel Di Maria: Man Utd pay British record £59.7m for winger". BBC. 26 August 2014.
  28. ↑ "Xabi Alonso: Bayern Munich sign Real Madrid player". BBC. 29 August 2014.
  29. ↑ "Florentino Pérez". realmadrid.com.
  30. ↑ "Florentino Pérez: "The Santiago Bernabéu will be the best stadium in the world"". realmadrid.com. 2 April 2019.
  31. ↑ "2–1: LaLiga champions!". Real Madrid C.F. 16 July 2020.
  32. ↑ "Florentino Pérez iguala las seis Copas de Europa de Santiago Bernabéu". cope.es (in Spanish). 28 May 2022.
  33. 1 2 "The Super League - Press Release". The Super League. 19 April 2021. Retrieved 11 June 2021.
  34. 1 2 Panja, Tariq; Smith, Rory (22 April 2021). "How the Super League Fell Apart". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 10 June 2021.
  35. ↑ Lowe, Sid (22 April 2021). "Florentino Pérez: the emperor who wanted more but lost for once". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 23 April 2021.
  36. 1 2 "European Super League: Real Madrid's Florentino Perez defends breakaway plan, says it will save the sport". CBSSports. 20 April 2021. Archived from the original on 20 April 2021. Retrieved 20 April 2021.
  37. 1 2 Wiltse, Matt (20 April 2021). "Florentino Perez' Full Interview regarding The European Super League with El Chiringuito". Managing Madrid. Archived from the original on 20 April 2021. Retrieved 20 April 2021.
  38. ↑ Harris, Daniel; Ingle, Sean (20 April 2021). "European Super League: backlash builds against breakaway plan – live!". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Archived from the original on 20 April 2021. Retrieved 20 April 2021.
  39. ↑ "Super League is wanted only by a cabal of Europe's elite club owners; fans have been forgotten". Archived 21 April 2021 at the Wayback Machine. ESPN. 19 April 2021. Retrieved 2 June 2021.
  40. ↑ "Spain's LaLiga slams plan for European Super League as 'secessionist and elitist'". Archived 20 April 2021 at the Wayback Machine. El Pais English. 19 April 2021. Retrieved 2 June 2021.
  41. ↑ Hytner, David; Hunter, Andy; Jackson, Jamie (20 April 2021). "Chelsea and Manchester City quit Super League after FA ban warning". The Guardian. London. Archived from the original on 20 April 2021. Retrieved 20 April 2021.
  42. ↑ "European Super League will 'reconsider steps to reshape' as English clubs leave". The Athletic. 21 April 2021. Archived from the original on 21 April 2021. Retrieved 21 April 2021.
  43. ↑ "Super League suspended: Why English clubs pulled out, and what's next for them and UEFA". ESPN. 21 April 2021. Archived from the original on 21 April 2021. Retrieved 21 April 2021.
  44. ↑ Wulzinger, Michael; Winterbach, Christoph; Pfeil, Gerhard; Buschmann, Rafael (19 April 2021). "Super League: Bayern München und Borussia Dortmund sollen Gründungsmitglieder werden". Der Spiegel (in German). Archived from the original on 20 April 2021. Retrieved 20 April 2021.
  45. ↑ "'Perez lied'. Leaked document shows how many days Bayern, PSG, and BVB have left to join the Super League". Tribuna. 20 April 2021. Archived from the original on 20 April 2021. Retrieved 20 April 2021.
  46. ↑ "Bayern, PSG reject Super League for UEFA CL". ESPN. 20 April 2021. Archived from the original on 20 April 2021. Retrieved 20 April 2021.
  47. ↑ Joyce, Ben (19 April 2021). "Capitalist Greed Created the European Super League". Jacobin. Archived from the original on 20 April 2021. Retrieved 21 April 2021.
  48. ↑ Feehely, Alan (20 December 2020). "Florentino Perez on European Super League: 'The pandemic has changed everything'". Football Espana. Retrieved 3 June 2021.
  49. ↑ Wiltse, Matt (20 April 2021). "Florentino Perez' Full Interview regarding The European Super League with El Chiringuito". Managing Madrid. Retrieved 3 June 2021.
  50. ↑ "Real Madrid president Perez: EuroLeague saved [European] basketball". Eurohoops. 22 April 2021. Retrieved 3 June 2021.
  51. ↑ Shread, Joe (22 April 2021). "European Super League: Real Madrid president Florentino Perez says plans are not 'dead' despite withdrawals". Sky Sports. Archived from the original on 22 April 2021. Retrieved 22 April 2021.
  52. ↑ "European Super League: Real Madrid president Florentino Perez says 'binding contracts' mean founding clubs cannot leave". Reuters. 24 April 2021. Archived from the original on 24 April 2021 – via Sky Sports.
  53. ↑ Lowe, Sid (21 April 2021). "Florentino Pérez blames one breakaway English club for Super League's collapse". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 22 April 2021.
  54. ↑ "European Super League: Project is 'on standby', says Real Madrid president Florentino Perez". British Broadcasting Corporation. 22 April 2021. Archived from the original on 22 April 2021.
  55. ↑ Rapp, Timothy. "Real Madrid's Florentino Perez Defends Super League Proposal amid Backlash". Bleacher Report. Archived from the original on 20 April 2021. Retrieved 19 April 2021.
  56. ↑ "Perez: UCL won't kick out Super League teams". ESPN. 20 April 2021. Archived from the original on 20 April 2021. Retrieved 20 April 2021.
  57. ↑ "Soccer-Madrid judge asks top EU Court to decide on Super League legality". Reuters. 13 May 2021. Retrieved 1 June 2021.
  58. ↑ "Super League-UEFA, the clash arrives at the EU Court of Justice". Italy24 News Sport. 13 May 2021.
  59. ↑ "UEFA y FIFA no pueden tomar represalias contra los clubes de la Superliga" (in Spanish). Cadena Ser. 7 June 2021. Retrieved 7 June 2021.
  60. ↑ "Real Madrid, Barcelona, Juventus admitted to Champions League next season". ESPN. Reuters. 15 June 2021. Retrieved 22 June 2021.
  61. ↑ "Florentino Perez to sue Jose Antonio Abellan and El Confidencial". Marca. 14 July 2021.
  62. ↑ "The latest Florentino Perez audio: Reveals Mourinho's takedown of Ozil's girlfriend". Marca. 16 July 2021.
  63. ↑ "Comunicado del presidente del Real Madrid". Real Madrid (in Spanish). 13 July 2021.
  64. ↑ "Las condolencias se suceden sin descanso tras el fallecimiento de María Ángeles Sandoval 'Pitina', esposa de Florentino Pérez". hola.com (in Spanish). 23 May 2012. Archived from the original on 25 May 2012.
  65. ↑ "Florentino Perez tests positive for COVID-19". Marca. 2 February 2021.
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