Why is Florentino Pérez at odds with almost everyone in football? | OneFootball

Florentino Pérez has clashed with most of football’s powerbrokers, the notable exception being FIFA under Gianni Infantino. According to El Periódico Mediterráneo, he argues Real Madrid only resists what he sees as abnormal, unethical or illegal.

His longest-running feud is with LaLiga chief Javier Tebas, whose 2013 arrival prioritised smaller clubs. The 2015 government-backed centralisation of TV rights deepened the rift, and Pérez now cites Tebas as a reason to privatise Madrid, warning of a theoretical expropriation risk.

At UEFA, Aleksander Ceferin took charge in 2016 while pushing broader access for smaller federations. After Pérez led the failed Super League in 2021, relations collapsed, and Madrid now pursues huge damages in court in an effort to turn that defeat into an economic win.

PSG filled the post-Super League vacuum, strengthening ties with UEFA as Nasser Al-Khelaifi fronted Europe’s clubs and defended the Champions League. Tensions with Madrid also grew over Kylian Mbappé, who finally joined on a free in 2024, though PSG lifted the next Champions League.

With the RFEF, Pérez kept pragmatic ties under Luis Rubiales due to a shared hostility towards Tebas, then broke off after the Supercopa case. Under Rafael Louzán, who named Tebas a vice president, Pérez views friendship with both LaLiga and Madrid as incompatible, snubbing federation events at recent showpieces and even threatening to withdraw from a Copa final over a refereeing briefing.

The newest rupture is with Joan Laporta, once aided by Pérez to secure Barça’s financing. Laporta’s rapprochement with UEFA and abandonment of the Super League was treated in Madrid as betrayal, prompting increased legal pressure over the Negreira case. Pérez now calls it the biggest scandal in football history, while Laporta has said ties with Real Madrid are broken and is likely to stoke the row during his re-election campaign.

Source: El Periódico Mediterráneo