Real Madrid announced on Thursday that it is starting the process that will lead to the presidential elections of the club throughout the year 2025. The president, Florentino Pérez, has called the Board of Directors meeting on January 7th at 5:30 p.m. "to initiate the process of elections for president and Board of Directors for the next four years."
Thus, the process is being advanced by three months, as the last call took place in April 2021. Back then, the process was delayed by only 13 days, after which Pérez was proclaimed president. Now, once the call is approved by the Board, it will be transferred to the Electoral Board to start the election process.
During his last four terms (2009, 2013, 2017, 2021), Pérez was elected unopposed, as no candidate decided to run for election.
As established by the club's Social Statutes, approved in 2012 by an Extraordinary Assembly, anyone wishing to run for election must present a bank pre-guarantee for 15% of the budget "solely and exclusively guaranteed by their personal assets." Since the approved accounts for the 2023/24 season amounted to 939.5 million euros, the mentioned pre-guarantee would amount to 140.9 million euros.
The rest of the requirements, outlined in article 40.B of the aforementioned Statutes, are as follows: be Spanish; be of legal age and have legal capacity; be up to date with payments; be a club member for at least 20 uninterrupted years; not be subject to sanctions that disqualify from holding managerial positions; not hold any other position in football.
In 2014, a group of members brought before the courts the tightening of the requirements, as they believed they only served to perpetuate Pérez in the presidency. In 2018, the Supreme Court partially accepted their appeal, although the Civil Chamber only overturned a part related to the regulation of the conditions, terms, and amounts of the pre-guarantee.
"The club belongs to its members, not to third parties, although I don't want to think badly of Arab sheikhs or Russians," Pérez argued at the aforementioned 2012 Assembly.