Enrique Riquelme has taken the definitive step to run in the Real Madrid elections. The businessman from Alicante, president of Cox, presented the necessary documentation this Saturday before the white club's Electoral Board to compete for the presidency against Florentino Pérez.
The candidacy is now pending validation by the Electoral Board. If the club's electoral body approves the submitted documentation, Real Madrid will hold elections with more than one candidate, something that has not happened since 2006.
Riquelme reaches the final stretch of the process after securing the bank guarantee required by the club's statutes. The guarantee is around 194 million euros, an amount equivalent to 15% of Real Madrid's general expenses budget, and has been arranged through Andbank Spain.
The guarantee of almost 194 million, the key to competing against Florentino
The guarantee was the major obstacle for Riquelme to formalize his candidacy. Real Madrid's statutes require candidates to present a bank guarantee equivalent to 15% of the club's budget, except in certain cases related to the economic management of the outgoing board.
In Riquelme's case, the operation was finalized in the final hours of the deadline. According to published information, the businessman secured the backing of Andbank after intense negotiations and following initial doubts about whether he could meet the financial requirement on time.
The figure makes the candidacy one of the most demanding in European sport from a financial perspective. It is not enough to be a member, have seniority, and present a project: to compete for the presidency of Real Madrid, enormous bank backing is also needed.
Riquelme focuses his discourse on Real Madrid members
The businessman has placed the role of the members at the center of his message. His stated objective is to present a project "for the Real Madrid of the future" and to return prominence to the members as the "sole and true owners" of the club.
This approach connects directly with one of the major ongoing debates within madridismo: the ownership model of Real Madrid and the institutional future of the entity.
Riquelme has defended in recent days that he is running out of "moral obligation" and has warned that these elections could be decisive for the future of the club. His candidacy is built, precisely, as an alternative to Florentino Pérez's project and to any change that could alter the traditional ownership model of the entity.
Florentino Pérez already has his candidacy validated
Florentino Pérez, current president of Real Madrid, already has his candidacy validated by the Electoral Board. The white director aspires to renew his mandate after a period marked by the club's sporting dominance, the transformation of the Santiago Bernabéu stadium, and the debate over new funding avenues.
The white president had publicly defended that any candidate who wanted to compete should present themselves, "show their face," and provide the corresponding guarantee. Riquelme has taken up that challenge and has taken the dispute to the formal level.
If his candidacy passes the Electoral Board's filter, Florentino will not be automatically proclaimed and will have to face an electoral campaign against the proxy members and all of madridismo.
The first real elections since 2006
The possible validation of Enrique Riquelme would have an immediate consequence: Real Madrid would have contested elections again for the first time since 2006. Since then, Florentino Pérez has chained mandates without effective opposition at the polls.
That fact makes Riquelme's candidacy a first-tier institutional event for the club. Not only because of his real chances of victory, but because it breaks a dynamic of almost two decades without electoral competition.
The campaign would allow for a confrontation of two models: the continuity of Florentino Pérez, associated with institutional stability, sporting successes, and the management of the new Bernabéu; and the alternative of Riquelme, focused on reinforcing the role of the member and opening a new cycle in the club.
The Electoral Board will have the final say
The next step is in the hands of the Real Madrid Electoral Board. The body will have to review the documentation presented by Riquelme and determine if he meets all the requirements demanded by the statutes: Spanish nationality, legal age, at least 20 years of membership, and the corresponding bank guarantee.
If the candidacy is validated, the club must set the electoral calendar and the date of the vote. If it is not, Florentino Pérez would remain the sole candidate and could be proclaimed president without needing to go to the polls.
That is why the next few hours are decisive. Riquelme's candidacy not only represents a personal challenge to Florentino Pérez, but also a test for Real Madrid's electoral system itself.
A showdown for the institutional future of the club
The electoral battle comes at a particularly sensitive time for Real Madrid. The club has just completed the major renovation of the Santiago Bernabéu, is seeking new revenue streams, and the debate continues on how to protect its member-based model in a football world increasingly dominated by funds, companies, and private owners.
In that context, Riquelme is trying to turn the campaign into a referendum on the role of the members. Florentino Pérez, for his part, comes with the weight of his track record, a consolidated structure, and a dominant position within the club.
The question is no longer just whether there will be elections. The question is what Real Madrid its members want for the coming years: one that continues Florentino's cycle or one that opens an alternative era with Enrique Riquelme as a presidential aspirant.