Real Madrid election to feature two candidates after 20 years as Riquelme confirmed | OneFootball

Real Madrid members will, for the first time in 20 years, choose between two presidential candidates after the electoral board validated Enrique Riquelme’s bid on Sunday, adding to Florentino Pérez’s, which was presented on Saturday morning.

According to El Periódico Mediterráneo, the board confirmed Riquelme met all statutory requirements and unanimously declared his candidacy valid. It will now have one day to set the election date.

Polls can be held up to 15 days after the announcement, with Sunday 7 June initially floated. The planned visit of Pope León XIV to Madrid could shift the timetable, and the vote might be brought forward to Sunday 31.

With elections triggered and the current board remaining in office until a new president takes over, the signing and unveiling of José Mourinho, agreed earlier this week in Lisbon, must be delayed until after the vote. Both candidates will now outline their programmes to convince members.

The club has more than 90,000 members, though only those of legal age can vote. Pérez, 79, faces a contested ballot for the first time in 20 years, while Riquelme, 37, the son of a former director during Vicente Boluda’s presidency, is a debutant.

Pérez last ran in 2004, beating Lorenzo Sanz and Arturo Baldasano, then stepped down in 2006. Since returning in 2009 he has been proclaimed president without elections in 2009, 2013, 2017, 2021 and 2025, while his last contested vote brought 21,377 ballots and 91.36%. Members have not voted since Ramón Calderón was elected in 2006.

Source: El Periódico Mediterráneo