Enrique Riquelme, the former candidate for the Real Madrid presidency, has urged Florentino Perez to abandon plans to bring private investment into the club, warning him to follow Gianni Infantino’s example after the FIFA president dropped a proposal to commercialise part of the World Cup.
Riquelme issued the message on social media, referring to a report in Spanish business newspaper Expansion which said Infantino had withdrawn his intention to establish a subsidiary company to market the World Cup. According to Marca, the structure described in that report was very similar to the model being considered by Perez at Real Madrid.
“FIFA has managed to correct the situation…” Riquelme wrote in a post on Instagram.
He added: “Some people need to take note… not everything is for sale.”
The comments were interpreted as a direct message to Perez and his closest advisers, amid growing speculation about the Real Madrid president’s plans for the club’s future ownership structure.
Perez is still pursuing a proposal to attract private capital into Real Madrid. Although he did not disclose the plan during the most recent presidential election campaign, apparently because he believed it would provoke widespread opposition among club members, the model under consideration would involve creating a subsidiary company to which the football business would be transferred.
The plan would allow one or more external investors to acquire between 5% and 10% of that company.
Perez had previously abandoned the initial idea of transforming Real Madrid into a commercial entity. He now recognises that the revised structure would still require approval from the club’s members through a referendum.
The first weekend of October could, in principle, be the date selected by Perez to present the proposal to the people who currently own the club. No final confirmation of the timing has been given.
Internal polling is understood to have indicated that the Real Madrid president fears strong opposition to the proposal. The plan would represent a significant change to the club’s long-established structure and could lead to a tense autumn at the Bernabeu.
Perez is said to be deeply concerned that his proposal could face outright rejection. The available indications suggest he may be forced to abandon the project, as Infantino did after widespread and vocal protests against his World Cup plan.
Riquelme’s intervention comes after he stood as a candidate in the latest Real Madrid presidential election. His warning places renewed focus on the debate over whether the club should permit outside investment while preserving its existing ownership model.
The possibility of a failed vote would also recall Perez’s previous experience with the European Super League, a project that faced intense resistance and was ultimately halted. As with Infantino’s abandoned proposal, the strength of the reaction from supporters and members could determine whether the Real Madrid plan proceeds.
