The 10 craziest quotes from Florentino Pérez’s emergency Real Madrid press conference | OneFootball

When Real Madrid announced on Tuesday afternoon that Florentino Pérez would be holding an emergency press conference just hours later, there was widespread speculation as to just what the club president would be addressing.

Would he be announcing José Mourinho’s return to the Spanish capital? Would he be complaining about refereeing decisions in the wake of Barcelona’s victory in the Clásico on Sunday that proclaimed them as LaLiga champions for the 29th time? Perhaps the most outlandish suggestion was that the 79-year-old would resign, bringing an end to his second spell as Real Madrid president.

In what can only be described as an outlandish press conference that explains exactly why Pérez does not often address the media, he revealed that the club will hold presidential elections before launching into a Trump-esque defence of his health, making sexist comments to two female reporters and playing down the significance of last week’s training ground fights.

Here are ten of the craziest Florentino Pérez quotes from Tuesday’s emergency press conference.

“They’re taking advantage to attack me personally”

There is no shying away from the fact that, by their own standards, the past two seasons have been disappointing for Real Madrid.

But Pérez insisted that two consecutive campaigns without silverware aren’t the reason for calling these elections, instead stating: “I’ve made this decision because an absurd situation has been created, provoked by campaigns against the interests of Real Madrid and against me.

“The results haven’t been the best, but in sport you don’t always win. They’re taking advantage of the situation to attack me personally.”

“They say we’re a dictatorship”

Pérez served as Real Madrid president from 2000 to 2006, and has held the role continuously since he was re-elected in 2009 as the sole candidate in the race. Despite the club holding four election campaigns since then, he has never faced opposition – in no small part due to the strict requirements of potential candidates, including being a Real Madrid member for the past 20 years and being able to contribute personal funds matching 15% of the club’s annual budget.

“I’m the first one who wants to win everything,” he told reporters gathered in Valdebebas on Tuesday.

“With me as president, we’ve won 37 titles in football and 29 in basketball. I want to talk about all these people who are campaigning behind the scenes. I invite everyone who wants to run. I’m going to run to defend the interests of Real Madrid’s members. They’re not going to intimidate me. They give me a lot of energy.”

The 79-year-old appeared to highlight Enrique Riquelme as a potential opponent in the upcoming elections, although he refused to name him and instead referred to “the man talking to the big electric companies with a South American accent.

“They say that we’re very bad, that we’re a dictatorship. Let this gentleman we’re talking about, and anyone else who wants to, run.”

“My health is perfect”

The Real Madrid president also took Tuesday’s press conference as an opportunity to deny that he has terminal cancer.

“They say I am sick and have terminal cancer. I would like to reassure those concerned about me that every day I continue to preside over Real Madrid and my company – which, I remind you, is a world leader in infrastructure with 170,000 employees and an annual turnover of €50 billion.

“My health is perfect. I couldn’t manage both roles without being in perfect health, so I don’t know where this rumour came from.

“If they claim I have cancer, I would have to go to an oncology centre for treatment. Do you think that if this were true, it wouldn’t have been reported worldwide? It is not true. They made it up and decided that I am tired. I work tirelessly. I am the first to wake up and the last to go to bed. I work like an animal.”

“That girl has a right to speak… you’re all so ugly”

Pérez has been criticised for a flurry of sexist remarks aimed at female journalists, including his stunning quip as he invited Fox Sports’ Lola Hernandez to ask a question.

“Right then, that girl – for f*ck’s sake, she’s got every right to speak her mind.

“You’re all bloody ugly, for f*ck’s sake,” he then told the male journalists.

“I don’t even know if she knows anything about football or not”

And Pérez wasn’t done there, unfortunately.

As part of his lengthy rant against media company Vocento – who own the newspaper ABC and the now-defunct online media outlet Relevo – the 79-year-old insinuated that he didn’t know if journalist María José Fuenteálamo “even knows anything about football or not.”

He complained that Relevo, which closed down last year, “set about producing a digital newspaper that lost €25m during its existence. When LaLiga stopped paying, they went to Telefonica and then to Telecinco to see if they would pay. Their sole aim was to attack Real Madrid and its president, Florentino Perez. Nobody bought it.

“I’m announcing that I’m canceling my ABC subscription to honour my father. You go after Real Madrid every day. Look at the two articles you wrote today… one of them was written by a woman, and I don’t even know if she knows anything about football or not.”

“Journalists don’t run Real Madrid… people don’t believe them”

Journalists copped a lot of the blame throughout Pérez’s spectacular press conference, with the Real Madrid president insisting that “people don’t believe them” and remarking that they do not have the same influence over the club that they supposedly believe they have.

He explained: “There are groups that want to run Real Madrid, but they haven’t succeeded. Journalists and their colleagues don’t run Real Madrid. People don’t believe them. They believe me. Journalists think they influence the club’s decisions because they’re important, and that’s not the case.

“The members are in charge here. They shouldn’t do anything shady. Whoever wants to run, let them run. They shouldn’t go behind my back saying I’m tired. I can’t accept that just because we haven’t won LaLiga and the Champions League this year. They say Real Madrid is in chaos now, and yet it’s the most prestigious club in the world.”

“We have the highest-rated squad according to Transfermarkt”

Pérez was keen to back up his claim that Real Madrid is still the most prestigious club in world football.

“I want to remind you, in case anyone has forgotten, that this is the club with the greatest record in football history and the leader in all the most important rankings. It is the most valuable club according to Forbes, the club with the highest revenue according to Deloitte, the most valuable football brand according to Brand Finance, and the club with the highest reputation in the world according to the World Sports Association.

“Why do journalists want to target the most prestigious, most valued club with the most followers in the world? It’s an asset for everyone and a treasure of football,” he asked, before noting that Real Madrid also have “the most valuable squad in the world according to Transfermarkt.”

Transfermarkt is a German website that originally launched in 2000 to track players and identify transfer targets for SV Werder Bremen.

“They say Madrid is in ruins – how can there be chaos?”

Pérez did admit – eventually – that he was “concerned about the season”, but downplayed the significance of a second trophyless season.

“It’s been less than two years since I won us a LaLiga title and a Champions League,” he explained.

“They say Real Madrid is in ruins and chaos… how can there be chaos when it’s the most prestigious club in the world?”

Once again, journalists picked up the majority of the blame for that, with the 79-year-old noting that he is running for re-election “because there are sectors that have tried to take over the club.

“One is the journalistic sector, which has orchestrated a conspiracy to claim that Madrid is in chaos. Then there are the Madrid ultras. Some of them are still around… they will never enter Madrid again. We expelled them, and I am congratulated worldwide for it. People always tell me they wish all teams did what Madrid did, getting rid of ultras and violent individuals.

“And then there are ticket scalpers, and I need to remove them as well. This year, we have already expelled 1,600 members of Real Madrid for reselling season tickets. And, of course, we always have LaLiga as our enemy. I fight against everyone, and for now, as I don’t need anything, I support Madrid in every way I can and am very happy.”

“Players have fought every season while I’ve been here”

It appears that Pérez has a rather unconventional idea of a club without chaos.

Just last week, reports emerged that a training ground bust-up between Aurélien Tchouaméni and Federico Valverde had left the Uruguayan unconscious and needing hospital treatment.

“Players have been fighting every season in all my years here, but it’s nothing out of the ordinary,” Pérez explained to reporters, suggesting that “this year it’s been reported because it has been leaked from the inside for the first time.

“I think it’s very bad, and I think it’s worse that they’ve brought it out into the open. In 26 years, I can assure you there hasn’t been a single year when two or four players haven’t had a go at each other, but it always stayed within the club.

“They have leaked it because they’re not happy and they think they’re going to leave. Is the leak worse than the fight? For me, the leak is worse.”

“We’re putting together a 500-page dossier”

And of course, in the wake of Sunday’s Clásico defeat that confirmed Barcelona as LaLiga champions, the Catalan club had to cop some flack too.

Pérez labelled the Negreira case as “an unprecedented case of corruption and the biggest scandal in history” and revealed Real Madrid’s plans to get to the bottom of Barcelona’s €8.4m payments to the former vice-president of the Spanish refereeing committee.

“The referees from that era are still officiating in competitions such as LaLiga. We are going to compile a comprehensive dossier to present to UEFA so that they can nip this in the bud.”

“The president of the CTA (refereeing technical committee} says it’s something we should forget about. We’re putting together a 500-page dossier that we’ll send out as soon as the season ends.”

Barcelona have already issued their own response, confirming that “after the press conference conducted by Real Madrid’s president Florentino Perez, our legal department is carefully studying his words and accusations.

“In these moments, the club is analysing the situation and deciding which are the next steps to take.”