Overview
- The vote, confirmed late Sunday, gave Pérez about 64 percent of the ballots—roughly 21,700 votes—against Enrique Riquelme’s roughly 35 percent, about 11,900 votes.
- Counting was delayed after Riquelme challenged around 1,000 postal ballots, including roughly 400 flagged for a double stamp, and he accepted the result only after those disputes were examined.
- Pérez signalled immediate changes, publicly backing a return for José Mourinho as coach and saying he will make a roughly €150 million bid for a player, a move that media have linked to Michael Olise though that signing is unconfirmed.
- The campaign exposed deeper governance and financial tensions at the club, highlighted by the €187 million candidate guarantee Riquelme posted, Bernabéu renovation debt and Pérez’s plan to explore selling a small minority stake.
- This was Real Madrid’s first genuinely contested presidential election in about 20 years, with roughly 70,000 members eligible to vote and Riquelme’s 35 percent now read as a meaningful warning to Pérez’s long-standing authority.