Real Madrid President Florentino Perez makes first public mention of changing ownership model

Last week, there were several reports that Real Madrid president Florentino Perez was considering changing the ownership model at the club, after news of this first emerged in April. During the club's general meeting on Sunday, Perez confirmed this was his intention.

The suggestion is that Perez will try to take Real Madrid out of its status as a “member-owned not-for-profit sporting entity” and turn it into a standard private company. Members would then be allocated shares.

Perez hinted that change was afoot.

“Our club must have an organizational structure that protects us as an institution, but also all of us as owners of Real Madrid. We will do whatever it takes to ensure that this club remains owned by its members, as it has done throughout our 122 years of history,” Perez explained during the club meeting.

“We will submit to this meeting a proposal for the corporate reorganization of the club, which will clearly secure our future, protect us from the threats we face and, above all, ensure that we members are the true owners of our club , the real owners of our club. our financial assets on our own.”

There is little certainty in what Perez says, nor in what threats he is referring to, apart from the claim that La Liga wants to cut their TV rights to distribute them more fairly. Perez wanted to emphasize that the members will still be owners of the club. Any change will also have to be approved by members in a referendum.

The Real Madrid president is believed to be planning to run again next year for another term that would take him into his 80s. He argues that their position as a non-private company weakens them in a legal sense, although it is not yet clear where exactly Los Blancos would be treated differently as a result, as Relevo notes.

If shares were to be issued and Real Madrid became a private company or something similar, the shareholders would theoretically have less power than the members currently have. Although barriers to entry are high, in theory any member can be elected president of the club and any president can be removed, something that would be more difficult in a private company.