At the general assembly, Florentino Perez unleashed a barrage of criticism, to say the least. Indeed, the Real Madrid president used his opening speech to deliver the usual financial and sporting review of the club, revisiting several events of the year, from the new Santiago Bernabeu stadium to the departures of some legends and the arrival of new faces. But what was most striking was the belligerent tone of the Spanish executive regarding the state of Spanish football: " I've heard it said that Real Madrid is against everything, and that's not true. It's just that we tend to react more than we'd like. It's abnormal and illegal to prevent clubs from organizing their own tournaments. It's abnormal that UEFA tries to dictate our fate and impose competition formats that penalize the fans. But let's not forget that its leaders are accountable to the voters. That's why we're forced to play matches in Asia, near China." It is not normal that in the 21st century, watching football on television is becoming increasingly expensive, when technology even allows for free formats .
Spanish referees and media are taking a beating.
In the continuation of his speech, Florentino Pérez emphasized Real Madrid's position in every battle for world football. " First, I'll explain why Real Madrid should lead this fight. Real Madrid is undoubtedly the only club in Europe with the strength to meet this challenge. There are more Real Madrid fans worldwide than there are inhabitants in the European Union. We are the most successful and financially prestigious club. And our strength lies in the fact that we are one big family united by values rooted in Real Madrid's history. There is nothing to fear. We respect all the rules. You cannot pressure us with rejected registrations. Unfortunately, this is not the case for most clubs. Many are struggling to survive. We all know, especially in the league, that life is easier when you follow the president's decisions. We are not alone. Many clubs privately ask us to continue the fight. And that's normal ."
The 78-year-old executive didn't forget to attack FC Barcelona , bringing up the Negreira affair, as well as all Spanish referees and certain media outlets that Pérez accuses of being biased against Real Madrid. " The level of refereeing in Spain is also unacceptable. It's scandalous that FIFA didn't select any Spanish referees for the recent Club World Cup. And of course, it's unacceptable that Barcelona paid more than 8 million euros to the vice-president of referees for at least 17 years, whatever the reason. This vice-president held important positions. This period, moreover, coincides with Barcelona's best results in Spain. It's not normal for the president of La Liga to mortgage the future of our clubs for 50 years with an investment fund (CVC). It's not normal for La Liga to charge six times more than the Premier League. It's also abnormal for La Liga to allocate a budget to the media." Some media outlets were created for the sole purpose of harming Real Madrid, as was the case with Relevo. And the fact that they operate opaquely is even more worrying. Their president refused to share this information with us. It's also unacceptable that LaLiga continues to lose millions of euros of our money with the failure of the Legends Museum, which was supposed to justify the media investments. Ultimately, it's wrong for football to be governed by those who only seek to preserve their privileges .
Javier Tebas also gets his share of criticism
A longtime public enemy of Florentino Pérez, Javier Tebas, president of La Liga, was not spared in the Real Madrid president's diatribe. " It is unusual for the president of La Liga to promote a match outside of Spain. Even the captain (of FC Barcelona), Frenkie de Jong, finds it abnormal. Similarly, it is unusual for La Liga to grant additional bonuses to two teams, Barcelona and Villarreal, to play in Miami. And yet, we have to endure Mr. Tebas's attempts to compare this to an NFL game. The NFL event took place without a hitch and in accordance with the law. The comparison is absurd, as it has the support of all the clubs in the competition. This is not the case for the Miami game, which also lacks the support of UEFA. This is simply another attempt by the league president to impose his will ."
“ The agreement with CVC has made many clubs realize that losing a portion of their revenue for 50 years jeopardizes their future. We are convinced that this agreement will be invalidated by the courts. Real Madrid, FC Barcelona, and Atlético de Madrid have already filed lawsuits. I'm sorry, but I must mention that Barcelona also opposed it, but, coincidentally, they dropped their legal action when LaLiga authorized player registration. Apart from Spain, CVC has only been able to establish itself in France, and the French league is bankrupt. All the clubs are losers in this operation. This is what they call Project Impulse. I want to emphasize an important point. It turns out that Tebas has increased his salary tenfold, at the expense of the funds necessary for the survival of his clubs. It is now up to you to determine everyone's responsibilities. The president of LaLiga acted on his own initiative and at his own risk.” He has compromised the integrity of the League and will have to take responsibility for it. We must also talk about a disgrace ,” he continued.
Before the various approvals of the accounts and reports, Florentino Pérez concluded his lengthy presentation with another attack on Tebas: “ Look at how the LaLiga players’ protest was handled. We all witnessed LaLiga’s shameful censorship. I don’t know what was more embarrassing: the 30-second connection delay or hiding behind a supposed ‘commitment to peace.’ They take us fans for fools. They’ve lost their minds. This kind of behavior has no place in a European league and would lead to the president’s dismissal. It’s also not normal for the LaLiga president to be vice-president of the RFEF. And I’ll let you in on something: the president offered me a position at the Federation. And I had to tell him, ‘You don’t know me.’ Whatever the conflict this entails, it’s undeniable that these positions must be overseen by people without prejudice or phobias .”
UEFA also singled out
“ And I’ll finish with the Super League. It’s essential. We dismantled a monopolistic system of over 60 years in record time. In 2021, UEFA threatened clubs with exclusion. And they opened disciplinary proceedings against us to exclude us from the Champions League. Today, faced with these damning rulings, the situation is radically different. And faced with these rulings, La Liga and UEFA are downplaying them. They’re only thinking about calming tensions. They’re taking us for fools. They ruled in our favor on 21 out of 23 points and paid the price… No one can punish us for working for our future. Our strong case allows us to claim damages from UEFA for the harm suffered. We have filed a lawsuit against UEFA, seeking redress and the right to organize the competition in the future. Our goal is not to win, but to achieve our demands.” I would like to thank the organizing teams for their efforts. We tried to reach an agreement, but it proved impossible. UEFA urged us to appeal to the ECA. However, the ECA is demanding that we waive all legal recourse against UEFA. This could cost us billions of euros that we intend to claim .
In any case, Florentino Pérez was determined to set the record straight with all the players in world football: “ In my opinion, what we want is transparency. No competitions behind closed doors. And above all, the establishment of free-to-air television for football. We did it during the Club World Cup. Thanks to FIFA, a poor child in Africa was able to watch the matches. We have Unify, which would allow us to broadcast the matches for free. At least FIFA understood that this is the way forward, and I want to thank them for that. I see only one reason why UEFA would refuse: postponing the decision for a year would mean another year of exorbitant salaries for them. This is the case, for example, with the president of LaLiga, whose salary is higher than that of his Premier League counterpart, even though he generates far less revenue. We won the legal battle and we will win the next ones. Because this is the best project for everyone.” And they all admitted it to us in private .” That was quite an eventful Sunday in Spanish football.
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