Florentino Pérez: “I’ve won more European Cups than Barcelona has in its entire history”
· Yahoo Sports
After calling elections in a heated press conference on Tuesday, Real Madrid president Florentino Pérez gave his first interview of a re-election campaign to Josep Pedrerol of El Chiringuito on Wednesday evening.
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Florentino on the reaction to his press conference
“I’m a little surprised by the situation. There’s been media criticism that doesn’t reflect reality. I’ve only received messages of congratulations about yesterday.”
Florentino on whether he read ABC today
“No. The last time I read it was yesterday when, before going into the press conference, I saw a headline saying I was tired. If I’m tired, it’s from working. But what they want to convey is that I’m exhausted, that I’m sick. And it’s very difficult to deal with those rumors and with the media outlets that are saying that.”
Florentino on what hurts him the most
“All the rumors. That’s a personal rumor. And then the club, which is in good financial and social health.”
Florentino on singling out journalists
“I put up with everything, but it’s very difficult to live in this hostile environment. And I said: enough is enough.”
Florentino on whether he wants to keep going
“Of course. And to win many more European Cups. Do you (Pedrerol) also think I’m sick?”
Florentino on achievements
“In my career, I’ve won more European Cups than Barça has in its entire history. But for some, that’s not enough. What kind of country do we live in? It’s an orchestrated campaign.”
Florentino on his belief there’s an orchestrated campaign against the club
“Of course. I inherited this club when there was a journalist, I won’t mention his name. I don’t talk to journalists because, first of all, I’m very busy. I run a very large company. I don’t give interviews because I don’t think it’s a good idea to give interviews.”
Florentino on two years without titles
“We’ve come to devalue what we have. Last year, we won the European Super Cup and the Club World Cup. Is that not worth anything anymore? Let’s not take this to absurd extremes. This is an orchestrated campaign. I’m not the owner of Madrid; the members are. Faced with this conflict, I decided to call for elections. In this situation of constant instability, I had to do it.”
Florentino on Enrique Riquelme
“I don’t know that man. When they called for elections in 2000, I didn’t ask for them to be postponed. I ran and I won.”
Florentino on boos at the Bernabéu
“No. I’ve been here for a quarter of a century, Josep. Do you think at this point in the game?… they’ve called me every name in the book. I don’t want this kind of atmosphere. I want whoever wants to run to be able to run. I tell the members that they are the real owners and that I think it’s very wrong for them to boo the players. As for the fights… several players have gotten into fights every year. When it becomes public, it’s because someone wanted it to be known.”
Florentino on if he knows who the leak is
“Yes, we have a hunch. After this, everything’s chaos, it’s ruin… man, for God’s sake!”
Florentino on people expecting that with Mbappé, Real Madrid would be better
“This year hasn’t gone as we wanted, but we’ve also accomplished things. It all stems from the Club World Cup. We haven’t been able to recover physically. Finishing second… so, what is Atleti supposed to do? And the rest of us?”
Florentino on the timing
“We cannot tolerate the atmosphere that some journalists have created. And since I’m not the owner, I’ve called for elections and invited anyone who wants to run to do so. Why do we have to go through this?”
Florentino on his purpose
“I ran for office in 2000 to defend the members. And I continue to defend them. Yesterday you saw an angry Florentino facing the media. They’ve been pushing him to resign.”
Florentino on the image he gave
“It’s the image of someone who’s fed up with hearing these things. And I told the journalists that.”
Florentino on being labeled as sexist
“She explained it, it had nothing to do with me. Everyone knows me by now. The poor girl was raising her hand, and the person in charge of giving her the floor wouldn’t let her speak. Is saying ‘this girl’ considered derogatory? We’re blowing this way out of proportion.”
Florentino on criticism from politician Irene Montero
“The ones writing those articles were sports journalists; I know them all. What I meant was that that reporter wasn’t a sports journalist. The thing is, they’re out to get me.”
Florentino on why he thinks he bothers people so much
“No, no. They want to influence Real Madrid. And they’re not going to influence me. They haven’t influenced me since 2000, but I get along well with all of them. Except for those who spread rumors. There are people who don’t want the members to be in charge, and I want the members to be in charge.”
Florentino on Ultras Sur
“There are some Ultras Sur members who operate clandestinely, and they won’t be allowed in the Bernabéu anymore. People have congratulated me on that. They don’t belong in a soccer stadium, and I’ve been able to kick them out.”
Florentino on those selling season tickets
“This year we’ve expelled 1,600 Real Madrid members who were scalping season tickets.”
Florentino on legal action from Barcelona
“They’d be wise to do so. If they think they have to sue us… I hadn’t heard about the Negreira Case until three years ago. The first to come forward as a victim is Real Madrid. That’s when I realized that Barcelona had been paying for over two decades.”
Florentino on the courts judging the Negreira case in his favor
“I think so. Next week we’ll submit all the documentation from these past years to UEFA. 500 pages. It’s very important documentation. Year after year, we’ve documented every point they’ve shamelessly taken away from us. This year they’ve taken between 16 and 18 points from us. Ceferin has told us that we’re within our rights.”
Florentino on Negreira
“The soccer world is waiting for the biggest corruption case in the world to be resolved. Do we want serious soccer? This is systemic corruption. Real Madrid is the only club that has taken legal action. LaLiga has joined the case but says nothing.”
Florentino on the Super League
“The CJEU has ruled in our favor, and we have the right to create the Super League. And as such, we are being harmed. But I don’t want money; I want what’s best for soccer. We are currently working with UEFA and have a very good relationship with them. We want soccer to improve, and UEFA has changed its mind.”
Florentino on concerts at the Bernabéu
“Real Madrid bears no responsibility. We will negotiate with the regional government to establish some guidelines.”
Florentino on whether he expected so many problems
“No. But everyone is against us. Real Madrid is very powerful. We’re working on everything the Community has asked of us, and they need to pass legislation that allows us to hold events. We don’t make money from the concerts; it’s a matter of reputation. I believe concerts will return to the Bernabéu.”
Florentino on the neighbors who complained
“This is the first time I’ve met those neighbors. I have to assume they’re Atleti fans.”
Florentino on whether the pressure is worth it
“I don’t feel any pressure at ACS. I don’t know why there’s such animosity toward Real Madrid. That Florentino is finished, that he’s disappeared… I don’t give interviews. I have to keep a very private life.”
Florentino on Jose Mourinho
“I like all coaches. He was with us; he raised our competitiveness. It’s not true that I’m the one who hires the coaches.”
Florentino on tension in the locker room
“No. They get along just fine. There have been constant arguments during training always. Ask any club. But what’s missing here is the bad faith behind this orchestrated campaign.”
Florentino on why he called the press conference
“I, too, have a duty to take on the journalists. And that’s okay. I have to defend Real Madrid’s owners, who are the club members. We need to call out the journalists who are enemies of Real Madrid.”
Florentino on whether hiring Xabi Alonso was a mistake
“No. We didn’t have a preseason. When you don’t have a preseason, you fall behind physically. We thought the change would fix it, but it only lasted a little while, and then they fell behind again.”
Florentino on whether he’s given the players too much power
“No. The coaches are in charge. I don’t know why I said that I ‘had spoiled the players.’ I’ve never spoken to any player. Not even back then. I swear to you, Josep.”
Florentino on whether Kylian Mbappé is committed
“Mbappé is a player who’s with Real Madrid right now. He’s won the Golden Boot, it’s not for lack of scoring goals. But there are areas that need improvement. We’re still hurting from the Champions League, that referee they assigned us… I have to believe the man didn’t act in bad faith, because he just didn’t know any better.”
Florentino on summer signings
“Of course. We’ve always signed players; we’ve always signed the best. I signed Figo, Kaká, Ronaldo ‘The Fat One,’ Beckham… When there’s a good one out there, I go after him. Haaland? I don’t have an opinion on that. That’s the sports management’s job; I don’t get involved in sports management.”
Florentino on the relationship with Barcelona
“Completely over. I don’t want to have anything to do with a club that has been bribing referees for two decades. I want the justice system to take action.”
Florentino on Vinícius’ contract renewal
“But I’m not the one who re-signs players. To me, Vinicius is one of the best players Real Madrid has. He won the last two Champions League titles. There’s no rush to re-sign him; we have the whole season to talk about it. You seem to think I’m in charge of everything, but that’s something the sporting director has to handle.”
Florentino on whether he’d like to be coached by Mourinho
“Enough already with Mourinho. I didn’t even speak to him when he came here (for the Champions League match against Benfica).”
Florentino on whether he’d debate other presidential candidates
“I didn’t have a face-to-face meeting with anyone. Let him come forward and take responsibility. Let him present his deposit, it has to be his own. I want to put an end to this mess and get things back to normal.”