Florentino Pérez calls for elections at Madrid: "They will have to throw me out at gunpoint"

Barcelona"I regret to inform you that I will not resign." Thus began Florentino Pérez's first press conference in 13 years. The all-powerful white president urgently summoned the media this Tuesday afternoon, but did not announce the name of the new first-team coach after two years without titles. Nor did he say he was resigning due to his advanced age. Quite the contrary: more belligerent than ever against "the bad guys," he announced elections "for the coming weeks" and challenged those Madridistas who want to dispute his position. "'Where is Florentino?' they ask. They say I don't exist, that I'm sick, that I have terminal cancer... I take this opportunity to tell the people who worry about me that I preside over Real Madrid every day and that I am in perfect health," stated the leader.

During a disorganized and reproach-filled appearance, Florentino harshly attacked the press that reports on Real Madrid. The main target of his attacks was the Vocento group, publisher of the newspaper "Abc" and the now-defunct portal Relevo. Shortly before the press conference, a reporter from Abc had explained that Florentino had told his inner circle that he was "tired." This information enraged the white president to the point of confronting the journalist from this outlet who had come to cover the event, Rubén Cañizares. At this point in his public performance, Florentino mixed the opposition he claims to have with a sector of the press that follows the club he presides. "I am waiting for you. I will run for elections to defend the interests of Madrid's members. Some journalists believe that by causing harm and creating confusion they will intimidate me, but they give me more energy. In Madrid, the members rule, not the journalists," he stated in this regard.

After repeatedly stating that he will unsubscribe from Abc" and saying that Relevo was paid by La Liga to discredit him, Florentino continued to lash out at other voices in Madrid's circle such as Juanma Castaño (Cadena Cope) and Santiago Segurola (Onda Cero): "I have something for everyone. The bad ones are the bosses, you [the journalists in the room] are better, except for Rubén Cañizares." The top Madrid executive did not want to make any sporting assessments of the season, despite the insistence of several participants in the press conference. "I will not talk about coaches or players," he insisted. He also downplayed the unfortunate incident between Fede Valverde and Aurélien Tchouaméni a few days before Sunday's classic, an episode that has led to the opening of two disciplinary proceedings and two fines of half a million euros. "It's not just that the players fight every year, but they fight every day!" justified the businessman.

The Negreira case, which Florentino once again defined as "the biggest scandal in history," also appeared several times during the hearing. "It is incomprehensible to continue seeing referees from that era in La Liga. We are preparing a 500-page dossier that we will present to UEFA so that they can resolve the case for the good of world football," said the Madrid president, who for some time has had no relationship with Joan Laporta and the Barça board despite their joint venture with the Super League. Pérez once again accused the azulgrana club of having committed "sporting corruption" for hiring the services of companies owned by the former president of the RFEF's Technical Committee of Referees for almost two decades. "I could have won 14 La Ligas, but they were stolen from me," he concluded, bordering on delirium. As a result of these accusations, Barça announced that it will study taking legal action.

Taking turns like Trump

The surrealism was increasing. When the press chief declared the event over, Florentino took control and decided to distribute the turns in the purest Donald Trump style: "Let whoever wants to ask me, because I have nothing to do this afternoon. It is an orchestration by the bad journalists against Madrid, and I have to go out and defend the club". Machismo was also present in a historic appearance. "[Let her ask] this girl, who has the right to speak. Because all of you are very ugly", ordered Florentino to introduce Lola Hernández, a journalist from the Fox network. At another point he said: "Look at the newspapers. In the Abc there are two articles that are against Madrid, one of them written by a woman who I don't know if she knows about football".

Florentino also hinted that an "businessman with a Mexican accent" wants to challenge him for the presidency of Madrid, from where he predicted they would have to "throw him out with bullets". More angry, contradictory, and narcissistic than ever, the white president declared finished a performance convened urgently, loaded with reproaches against the press, with a forceful headline –that he will get down in the mud to revalidate the mandate– and some insinuations about the change of model that he has been preparing for the entity for some time, with an entry of private investors to guarantee viability without the partners ceasing to have a share of power. All this after the defeat in the classic against Hansi Flick's triumphant Barça and after a few weeks to forget. The season, however, has not ended. The whites host a relegated Oviedo this Thursday (9:30 p.m.). It is the turn of the Bernabéu, which is closer than ever to using the ballot boxes to validate or penalize the work of an increasingly exhausted and quixotic president.