Florentino Perez spoke at length at Real Madrid’s annual general meeting. Among other things, the president explained the dissatisfaction with Ballon d’Or winner Rodri.
Once a year, Real Madrid’s president Florentino Perez, who otherwise hardly ever makes public statements, speaks his mind. This was also the case at the most recent annual general meeting on Sunday. The dominant topics of his speech: Ballon d’Or, Champions League, Super League.
The 77-year-old property developer, who has now been in office for 15 years (his second term as Real president), provided a detailed explanation for the sensational boycott of the Ballon d’Or ceremony by the CL winners. “I want to make it absolutely clear that Rodri is a great footballer who has all our affection. This has nothing to do with that,” began Perez.
According to Perez, Rodri should have won the 2023 Ballon d’Or
It didn’t stop there, of course. ‘I quote Tuttosport, a prestigious publication: ’Rodri winning the Ballon d’Or is not a scandal, but it is unfair. Rodri deserves a Ballon d’Or, but not this one… Last year, City won the treble and Rodri scored the decisive goal in the Champions League final. And then he didn’t even make the podium. You can’t give an award like that as compensation, it’s unfair.” Mind you, that was a quote from the Italian newspaper, but the Real Madrid president emphasized that again. However, it coincides with his opinion. Lionel Messi was awarded the prize in 2023.
“My opinion is obvious: the Ballon d’Or should have gone to a Real Madrid player this year, whichever criteria is applied,” said Perez, who was reportedly behind the boycott. The club’s patron was particularly annoyed by the changed criteria and regulations.
“Surprising things have happened,” complains the 77-year-old. ”In a UEFA statement, it was said that their entry would have no impact on the electoral system and that it would remain independent. But they have increased the number of players that have to be elected in the electoral system: from five to ten. They also increased the number of points a journalist can give to a player, from six to 15. It is also surprising that journalists from countries like India are not taking part in the election and that journalists from countries with less than a million inhabitants are. As a result of this rule, it turns out that Vinicius would have won the Ballon d’Or without the influence of journalists from just four countries – Namibia, Uganda, Albania and Finland. From these four countries, not a single journalist voted for Vinicius in the top ten.”
The Finnish journalist, Juha Kanerva, had admitted in the aftermath of the vote that he had simply forgotten about Vinicius and had resigned from his role in relation to the Ballon d’Or vote. Perez also reminded of this and demanded: “The Ballon d’Or should be organized independently and the choice should be in the hands of recognized people, for example the national coaches. Well-known people, so that everyone is aware that their reputation is also at stake in their choice. Because of all this, Real Madrid has decided not to attend the gala.”
Super League trials are apparently continuing in the background
In addition, the Madrid president took the opportunity at the AGM to criticise the latest reform of the UEFA Champions League: “The new format has shown that it is not the solution. It’s an unfair system with 36 teams that nobody understands. With more games, the value of each game has dropped by almost 30 percent. More games, but less value. This competition only inspires enthusiasm at the end, not at the beginning. The number of games affects the health of the players.”
To make his dispute with the European football association clear once and for all, Perez also drummed up support for his Super League project. He wants to “change the history of football for the good of the sport,” said the Spaniard. He is “more optimistic than ever” about this. The processes of bringing the competition to life are continuing in the background, according to him.
