Hupu News on May 12, according to the Spanish media "ABC", in a particularly surreal press conference, Real Madrid Chairman Florentino pointed the finger at the media, especially "ABC" and Vocento Group. However, the most important news in this press conference was that when Real Madrid failed to win the championship for the second consecutive season and fell into a competitive and institutional crisis that had not been seen in many years, Florentino announced that he would convene elections for the club's president and board of directors. The 79-year-old Florentino wants to start his new term. This will be his eighth time in charge of Real Madrid. It has been 26 years since he first took over the club.
This time the election was decided, only a year and a half had passed since he was last recognized as chairman. At that time, he became the only candidate again, and his term was originally supposed to be extended to 2029. Since 2004, Florentino has never faced a real opponent in the Real Madrid presidential election. That year he scored huge victories over Lorenzo Sanz and Arturo Baldassano. After resigning in 2006, he returned in 2009, and then in 2013, 2017 and 2021, there was also no competitor.
"Protecting the interests of members" was the main reason given by Florentino. He also stated that he wanted to "end the anti-Real Madrid trend that has formed." At the beginning of the press conference, he clarified that he had no plans to resign. Previously, because he held an emergency press conference after the board of directors, there were once widespread rumors that he might leave office. In February 2006, when he resigned as Real Madrid chairman for the first time, he also took a similar action, but this time his plan was completely different.
Florentino said that I will not leave, I will be the last person to leave. The owner of Real Madrid is a member. If someone wants to participate in the election, don't make a false shot, stand up and run directly, and let them come up with a guarantee of more than 170 million euros like I did back then. These words were spoken at a crowded conference in Valdebebas.
He then turned the topic to direct and fierce criticism of the media, accusing the media of planning an action against himself and Real Madrid. He said: "They are using this situation to attack me. I have to stand up and stop this. I cannot accept that anyone in the media is trying to take away the club. Less than two years ago, we won La Liga and the Champions League, and now Real Madrid is in ruins and chaos. I have witnessed this conspiracy in the media for many years. They can't defeat me. We are the best team in the world. Why do I have to tolerate people saying that we are in chaos?"
In the 1 hour and 5 minutes of the press conference, Florentino spent about 15 minutes directly attacking "ABC" and its staff by name. He was highly critical of a report from those closest to him that mentioned his state of exhaustion. In response to this situation, he responded: "I may be tired because of running around, but not because of football. Do you see that I am tired?".
Afterwards, Florentino took out his mobile phone to search for relevant articles and named two "ABC" reporters. First came David Sanchez de Castro. He said: "Is he here? I want to say hello to him and want to know why he posts such things. I get up very early every morning and am the last one to go to bed, like an animal." After that, he named Ruben Canizares, who has long been responsible for Real Madrid coverage and will attend the press conference.
Florentino continued, "Look at the two articles they published today," and then he denounced Canizares as an "anti-Real Madrid person." He also declared, "I am very sorry, because my father used to read "ABC" and subscribed to this newspaper for me many years ago, but now I have decided to unsubscribe from "ABC" in memory of my father. He will be grateful to me. How can "ABC" do this?" , and then Florentino returned to similar views many times.
Never attacking "ABC", Florentino also expressed dissatisfaction with the doubts about his health. He said: "They are still spreading the word that I have a terminal illness… but I have never even gone to see a doctor. One friend even told me that he knew there was a place in China that was the best in treating terminal illnesses. I said to him: 'Look, I don't want to scold your father…'".
The actual situation is that Florentino did not hesitate to invest energy in the press conference. Even though the Real Madrid PR team had tried to terminate the press conference many times, he continued to prolong the time and even went to determine the order of questions himself. He also joked: "I have nothing to do all afternoon."
Florentino used this press conference to start building momentum for his candidacy. He declared, "I am running with renewed enthusiasm. I have to tell you that during my time as president, Real Madrid won a total of 66 football and basketball championships, including 7 football Champions League championships."
In the middle of the intertwining process, Florentino also said something like this: "I intend to put an end to the behavior of all bad people." He classified these so-called "bad people" into two categories: internal and external. On the external side, he was referring to the media; on the internal side, he mentioned ticket scalpers and fans with extreme attitudes. He expressed this view: "Those scalpers and fans with extreme attitudes are trying to control the club. Members expect people who behave normally. We have already expelled 1,600 members because of someone selling season tickets. How can a member get money by playing tricks on Real Madrid?"
At present, the specific date for Real Madrid’s election has not yet been determined. During the election process, it is Florentino who can continue to perform the duties of the chairman until the new chairman officially assumes the corresponding position. However, the probability of other candidates emerging is not very high. According to Article 36 of the Real Madrid Club Charter and the following clauses, as a candidate for membership, you must first have 20 years of membership qualifications. In addition, candidates must submit a bank guarantee equivalent to 15% of the club's expenditure budget. Real Madrid's budget last season exceeded 1.2 billion euros.
This means that anyone who intends to run for the election must come up with a guarantee of nearly 200 million euros with his or her candidate team members, and the candidate team must not be less than nine people. They have only 10 days from the time the election is officially called to raise the funds. Real Madrid's charter also provides that the Electoral Commission can request any type of information to ensure that the guarantee is not under any circumstances based on the assets of anyone other than a member of the candidate team.
In this case, Florentino's attitude is particularly tough, and he has repeatedly encouraged potential opponents to formally participate in the election. He said: "I hope that all those who are just pretending and not participating in the election will come forward. I have enough funds to be the president of the club and there is no need to do anything weird. I want to end this anti-Real Madrid trend that has been formed. We will hold elections, I have to do this to protect the rights of our members. There are people who are coveting the opportunity to own Real Madrid. I want to say to those who are hiding behind this movement and operating in the dark. Now they have this opportunity and I will participate in the election to defend the interests of Real Madrid.”
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