Football
Dermot Corrigan, Madrid correspondent 7y

Madrid court rejects statutes case against Florentino Perez

Real Madrid have welcomed a local court ruling which has rejected a challenge to 2012 changes in the club's internal rules thus strengthening Florentino Perez's hold on the presidency.

The case could now be brought to a higher court, but it seems certain that the club's next presidential election -- due in summer 2017 -- will now go ahead under the current system.

Since beginning his second spell as Madrid president in 2009, Perez has made incremental changes to the club's statutes which mean that all would-be candidates for the role must have been Madrid socios [members] for at least 20 years and have a personal guarantee of over €75 million from a Spanish bank.

This helped construction magnate Perez be reelected unopposed in 2013, but the statute changes were more recently challenged by a group of socios claiming they were illegal and calling for a new presidential election to be called immediately under the old rules.

Madrid have now released a club statement saying that a second court has "completely rejected" the case brought by the unhappy club members.

"The Audiencia Provincial Civil de Madrid [Seccion 9ª] has completely rejected the appeal against the verdict of the Juzgado de 1ª Instancia Nº 51 de Madrid, which completely rejected the case brought against Real Madrid C. F. for the changes to the club's social statutes which was approved at the club's AGM in September 2012," the statement said.

At last October's Madrid AGM, critics of a lack of open democracy within the club were again ignored by lifelong Blancos fan Perez, who has often said he sees himself as the ideal person to safeguard the future and heritage of an institution which is owned and controlled by its members.

The news was welcome for Perez in a week which saw Madrid drop to third place in Deloitte's football rich list behind Manchester United and Barcelona, having previously been named as the world's richest football club for the previous 11 years.

2017 has also started rockily on the pitch for Madrid, who have lost two consecutive games to Sevilla and Celta Vigo, having previously gone 40 games in all competitions without defeat.

^ Back to Top ^