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Florentino Pérez announced this Tuesday elections for the presidency of Real Madrid in an extraordinary press conference in Valdebebas, the first before the media since 2015; however, he made it clear, in a straightforward message, that he does not intend to resign.
"I regret to inform you that I will not resign," the 79-year-old president stated at the outset. "I have asked the Electoral Board to begin the electoral process."
The Madrid boss also confirmed that he will run again alongside his entire current board and fired a jab at those who criticize him from the shadows: "Anyone who wants to run, let them come forward. And stop lurking behind the journalists."
The appearance of Florentino comes just 48 hours after another heavy blow for Real Madrid: the 2-0 defeat in the Clásico against Barcelona at Spotify Camp Nou, a result that crowned the blue and burgundy team as champions of LaLiga 2025-26 and further sank a dismal campaign for the whites.
Madrid ended the season empty-handed, without lifting a single trophy and suffering several high-profile setbacks: eliminated from the Copa del Rey by Albacete, a Segunda club; knocked out of the Champions League in the quarter-finals after losing to Bayern Munich; and also defeated by Barcelona in the final of the Supercopa de España held in January.
In the midst of the sports firestorm, Florentino denounced "a campaign" organized by the media against him: "An absurd situation has been created, driven by campaigns to generate a wave of public opinion opposing the interests of Madrid, and especially against me."
He directly criticized the newspaper Relevo —which he described as "paid by LaLiga" and accused of having made him "lose 25 million for Vocento"—, journalist Juanma Castaño from COPE, and the legendary announcer José María García.
He also denied the rumors about his health that had been circulating in recent months: "Some have said that I have terminal cancer. My health is perfect because I wouldn't be able to be in both places if I didn't have perfect health."
Pérez recalled that in addition to presiding over Real Madrid, he also leads ACS, a global leader in infrastructure with 170,000 employees and an annual turnover of 50 billion euros.
Regarding the incident in the locker room between players Fede Valverde and Aurélien Tchouaméni, the president downplayed the altercation but not its dissemination: "It's not the first time two players have had a clash. The worst part is the leak. We know who reported it. They are two fantastic guys and very good players."
He also announced the preparation of a dossier for UEFA regarding the Negreira case: "It is systemic corruption. It is the biggest corruption case in the history of football. I have won seven Champions and seven Leagues, and I should have won 14. The others were stolen from me."
When asked about a possible arrival of José Mourinho to the bench, Pérez replied with a single sentence: "We are not at that procedural moment."
The president closed his statement with a phrase that summed up the tone of the entire press conference: "There is a conspiracy of journalists who think they run the club. They'll have to kick me out with bullets, because I have the support of the Madrid members."
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