Enrique Riquelme’s open letter to Florentino Pérez: “I humbly believe that Madridismo deserves time, serenity, and reflection”

Precisely because of the enormous respect your figure deserves, I take the liberty of writing these lines to you from Mexico, where I am currently for professional reasons and where I became aware of the possibility of an imminent and rapid call for the club presidency.

I fully understand that any decision you make will be guided by your love for Real Madrid and your desire to protect the institution. Precisely because of the historic significance of the moment our club is experiencing, I humbly believe that Madridismo deserves time, serenity, and reflection.

Our club, after almost 20 years without a participatory electoral process in which members are called upon to build Real Madrid together, maintains deadlines that do not correspond with the encouragement of participation and listening required by modern democracies. The members, spread throughout Spain and abroad, deserve time and calm to carefully debate the future of Real Madrid.

Time to discuss how to preserve the values that have made this club eternal: exemplary conduct, institutional elegance, respect for opponents, excellence, unity, and the ambition to continue being the global reference point of sport.

For all these reasons, and with the utmost respect, I would like to convey our full willingness to engage in dialogue together in the coming days and agree upon a broader process that allows and encourages the real participation of Real Madrid members in its future. As you yourself referred to in your press conference, a more transparent and innovative process regarding the eternal gaps surrounding, for example, postal voting or the possibility of knowing and contacting members entitled to vote. An agreed process for this election that would allow another 20 years of stability, leadership, and greatness for Real Madrid, and avoid leading Madridismo into a time of rupture, polarization, and internal tension.

I must make it clear, to avoid insinuations that divert from the ultimate objective of this proposal for dialogue and unity, that I fulfill all the economic and seniority requirements to present a candidacy. I possess the financial capacity and experience required by Real Madrid, as demonstrated by the recent successful issuance of $2 billion in the market by Cox, the company of which I am Executive President and own 75%, but I sincerely believe that the path I propose would be the best for the members, for the institution, and for the future of the club.

Truly eternal institutions are those that know how to unite experience and renewal, past and future, legacy and continuity. And few institutions in the world have a historical responsibility as great as Real Madrid.

Whatever your decision may be, your presidency already belongs forever to the greatest history of football, and guaranteeing the unity of Madridismo through a participatory, calm, and transparent process would be the best legacy for the future of Real Madrid.

At your disposal,

Enrique Riquelme

Member no. 43,858 of Real Madrid Club de Fútbol