Real Madrid boss Pérez breaks silence on the Ballon d’Or and warns of the delicate situation in the sport

Florentino Pérez has never been the greatest orator in the Spanish football world, and that is unlikely to change. Especially not now, as the 77-year-old Real Madrid chairman’s tongue and gait seem increasingly slow. On the other hand: At the end of his hour and a half speech at the annual general meeting of the Spanish record champions, he got the hang of it – and provoked a smile from many of the listeners, who followed him shortly afterwards Standing ovation celebrated. When he talked about the “Ballon d’Or”, the election for the best footballer of the year, and Pérez not only let out a “hehehe”, but his face also turned into a cheerful smile.

As a reminder: at the end of October, Real Madrid stayed away from the gala at which Spain international Rodri (Manchester City) was awarded the “Golden Ball” as the best player of the season; the Real Madrid delegation’s trip to Paris was by order of mufti canceled when it was announced hours before the ceremony began that Real Madrid striker Vinícius Jr. had only come second. There hadn’t been a single comment from Pérez since then; So now he broke his silence. On the one hand, to tell Rodri that he abut not this one “Ballon d’Or” (which may be related to the rumor that Real Madrid would like to sign Rodri). And on the other hand, in order to see the inner eye madridistas To let images of a conspiracy unfold.

Because: The fact that the European Football Union Uefa got involved for the first time (as a co-organizer) led to a series of changes in the voting method, which he marked with the ironic and sarcastic exclamation “caray”, meaning: Look at that! His point that journalists from countries with fewer than a million inhabitants were allowed to vote, while India (1.5 billion) was left out, sounded a bit as if the election organizer, the magazine, had France Football, searched for votes in Tuvalu, Nauru and San Marino. But Pérez directed the anger at the representatives of other nations: “Without the votes from four countries – Namibia, Uganda, Albania and Finland – Vinícius would have won the Ballon d’Or,” shouted Pérez. The Finn resigned as an elector. “I thank him,” he added.

But there was also the irony-free Pérez. He looked back at the club’s “golden age” (six Champions League titles in ten years), announced triumphant net profits (which do not take into account 1.8 billion euros in debt for stadium renovations) and slammed the training of Vinícius (61 million euros Transfer fee) and Rodrygo (45 million) to Real’s youth department. Above all, he painted the future of the sport in gloomy colors. “The situation has never been more delicate” than now.

This was accompanied by attacks on Spain’s league association, UEFA and the world association Fifa. Uefa and Fifa have inflated the calendar to such an extent that a Real player could play 82 games this season. The number of games organized by UEFA and FIFA has increased from 22 to 36 in ten years – at the expense of players and spectators. “The Fifa Club World Cup (summer 2025) will deprive the players of their essential rest,” he said.

Pérez initially left it open whether the club would become a stock corporation

Pérez’s favorite topic remains the Super League, which he pulled out of the hat in April 2021 and immediately saw implode. The ruling of the European Court of Justice (ECJ) “gave us back our freedom,” Pérez shouted, adding that the Super League is still to come. With whom? He left that out. He called the new Champions League system with 36 preliminary round participants “incomprehensible” and “unfair”. He recalled that the Super League operators (associated with him) offered “free” football broadcasts and wanted to kill two birds with one stone. Internet piracy would be brought under control – and the fate that Blockbuster suffered would be avoided. Blockbuster was the world’s leading video rental company at the beginning of the millennium – and made the historic mistake of closing itself off to the streaming service “Netflix”.

However, Peréz only outlined the most interesting innovation coming to Real Madrid: Real Madrid, previously a registered club, should undergo a reorganization in order to protect the economic assets of the club and its members. Spanish media speculate that Pérez wants to turn the membership cards into share certificates; There is also talk of a conversion based on the German “50+1” model in order to attract major investors based on the FC Bayern model. Pérez only committed himself to one thing: that Real Madrid’s new constitution should be voted on by referendum.