Florentino Pérez defeated Enrique Riquelme in Sunday's Real Madrid presidential election with roughly 67-33 percent of the vote. The 79-year-old president heads toward his seventh term until 2030. The victory clears the way for several sporting and institutional moves.
Pérez prevailed at every polling station after a day of high turnout despite mail-in ballot issues. Around one thousand mail votes were annulled for formal defects, all favorable to the president, yet the margin proved large enough to secure victory. The outcome confirms the imminent return of José Mourinho as coach and the signings of Ibrahima Konaté and Denzel Dumfries. Pérez also announced a 150-million-euro offer to a Champions League club for an undisclosed player. Riquelme conceded defeat yet pledged active opposition until the referendum on selling five percent of the club to an investor. Both candidates stressed the importance of members being able to vote again after twenty years without elections.
