A Presser For The Ages

Pres conferences are comon practice in sports. It usually takes place before and after a match/event. It's purpose is to get the man/woman in charge thoughts on what they expect and what happened afterwards.

In times of special announcements, an impromptu one is held. One such took place this past week with Real Madrid president, Florentino Perez. The reception was cold and not applauded.

A press conference by Real Madrid president Florentino Pérez turned into an explosive row after the football supremo criticised the press; made comments described as sexist, and accused arch-rival Barcelona of corruption. His remarks have turned into a political storm.

"Good afternoon, I regret to inform you that I’m not going to resign." In a hot, packed press room at Valdebebas before an audience hurriedly summoned to witness a news conference so bizarre that they could barely believe what they were seeing, Florentino Pérez sat at a desk with a phone that he kept looking at and some papers that he didn’t and announced that he was calling presidential elections at Real Madrid.

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What he didn’t announce was a date, an electoral commission, the resignation that is required for polling to actually happen, or indeed any details at all.

There was nothing about Madrid’s on-field issues either; nothing about the coach; no mention of José Mourinho and no explanation for the season they have just suffered. "I’m not here to talk about sporting issues," Pérez said. Instead, he was there to deliver a surreal, repetitive rant that lasted over an hour, way after his own staff had tried to bring it to a close.

A room of people, including the directors in the front row and lined up against one wall, looked at each other: yes, this was actually happening. Pérez went on and on, and on, the incoherent ramblings of a 79-year-old man who insisted "my health is perfect."

"I’m enjoying this," he said but it really was time to go, time to be taken home. That’s enough now. The laughs were of the uncomfortable type, more at him than with him: this was the first time he had faced the press since the day Zinedine Zidane "totally unexpectedly" walked out on him.

Only facing makes it sound like he was there to be interrogated; this was more facing down. Questions weren’t answered, they were cues to say the same thing, an opportunity to introduce another newspaper or radio station that couldn’t be trusted.

That day, in 2018, he had looked sad; this time it was at turns almost funny yet really not funny at all, ­accusatory and threatening, demanding that the enemies conspiring against him come out of the shadows and stand so that he can defeat them, like something straight out of the falling emperor’s handbook.

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Enemies everywhere, paranoia too. "They’re going to have to shoot me, because I have the support of all Madrid’s members," Pérez said. "I’m going to finish the bad people."

There were more enemies at the gates, and within them, a hint at the court politics that go on around him. “Leave the internal enemies to me,” he said. As for the external ones, there are the ultras too.

José Mourinho has been linked to the role at Real Madrid but Florentino Pérez did not mention the Portuguese in his press conference.

The referees of course, the unresolved (and genuinely important) Negreira case declared not to be a thing of the past, the club preparing a dossier to send to UEFA. Pérez had been robbed of seven leagues, he calculated. As for the real enemy, to blame for all that is bad: are they in the room with us right now? Yes, Pérez said. Maybe that was why there was a press conference, the worst of all called in to be shot at.

The media conspires against Madrid and against him, Pérez said; insisting radios and papers get together to work out how they can damage Madrid and how they can get their grubby hands on the club. Words went round. Horrible. Resentful. Anti-Madridista. Conspiracy. Collusion. Fake news made an appearance too. There were "those from 68," "regime intellectuals."

He said that a digital sports paper called Relevo had been set up with only one aim – to attack Madrid – and had gone out of business, €25m in debt, a moral to that story. He announced that he had always subscribed to ABC but that he was giving up his subscription – if not before he peered at the screen and read out a line from a piece in which they had said he was "tired" and took on Ruben Cañizares, the ABC reporter in the room who didn’t write that piece but who he accused of "going for Madrid every day."

Some reporters got greeted more warmly: "You’re friends … but have a word with [the critical voice] Segurola; there’s one everywhere."

Round and round he went. Infamy, infamy, they all had it in for him. "And it would be bad to say I am the best president in history, but I am." There were the figures cited to prove that Madrid were the greatest, biggliest club around. As for him, everything he does is for the good of the members and for "the good of football," he said. "I want kids in Africa to see football for free."

"They say: 'Where is Florentino?' They say I don’t exist." Here he was. It was bizarre, baffling and, well, just bad. Bad? He’s the best, he said.

"Every day I preside over Real Madrid and I run a business that is a world leader, that turns over €50bn a year. 'I am tired', it says here. With me we have won 66 titles in football and basketball. I have to come out and stop this. But not for me, for the members. I am the president most valued in history. I don’t want to defend myself for myself, I want to defend the institution."

Pérez also became involved in a verbal exchange with journalist David Sánchez de Castro of ABC over the newspaper’s coverage of Real Madrid. He later announced he would cancel his subscription to ABC, saying: "It was my father who subscribed me, and I am cancelling it in his honour."

Sánchez de Castro was not the only ABC journalist mentioned. Referring to two recent articles published by the outlet about the club, Pérez said: "One of them was written by a woman. I don’t know if she knows anything about football."

He later added, pointing to another journalist: "That girl there, ask a question. The rest of you are very ugly."

Spain’s most listened-to radio station, Cadena SER, criticised Pérez’s comments, saying they reflected "arrogance and sexism." ABC described them as "outrageous attacks" intended to "cover up the club’s failures." The journalist targeted by Pérez, María José Fuenteálamo, said she "did not expect this" and added that she had only written an opinion column.

Some commentators in Spain argued that Florentino Pérez lost his sense of proportion during the press conference, with El Mundo comparing his appearance to a "Trumpist exercise." Others suggested it was a calculated attempt to divert attention from another trophyless season — the club’s second in a row.

That strategy may have backfired, as Pérez’s comments regarding Barcelona and alleged corruption have prompted the Catalan club to consider possible legal action.

Pérez described Barcelona’s alleged corruption as "the biggest scandal in football history," claiming that "seven league titles were stolen" from Real Madrid as a result, and announced that a 500-page dossier would be submitted to UEFA, European football’s governing body.

Spanish media and journalists have largely focused on his comments but some have also highlighted what was not said. MARCA, traditionally Spain’s most widely read sports outlet, noted that Pérez avoided addressing the club’s own crisis.

In what it described as a "confusing" and "chaotic" press conference, MARCA also said that any form of self-criticism was absent from his remarks.

Barcelona are considering taking legal action following incendiary comments made by Real Madrid president Florentino Pérez on Tuesday. Pérez revealed to the media that his club is preparing a 500-page dossier to submit to UEFA regarding the Negreira case.

The Madrid supremo reiterated that the Negreira case, which saw more than €7 million ($8.2m) of payments made by Barça to former referees' committee vice president José María Enríquez Negreira between 2001 and 2018, is "the greatest scandal in history."

Pérez added: "It's a case that remains unresolved and is still ongoing. Because it's not just Madrid that's harmed and Barça that's benefited -- although Barça has always benefited."

Barcelona, who beat Real Madrid 2-0 on Sunday in the Clásico at the Spotify Camp Nou to clinch the La Liga title, were quick to respond.

"Regarding the press conference held by the Real Madrid president, Florentino Pérez, we inform that our legal department is carefully examining his declarations and accusations," a club statement said. "They are currently being analysed and the steps to be taken are being assessed. When considered opportune, any positions and decisions that have been adopted will be notified."

Pérez, 79, addressed the media following a turbulent season for his club, which has now gone two seasons without a major trophy for the first time in 20 years.

Instead of accepting his team's errors, Pérez issued a scathing attack against a section of Spanish media and referees, while announcing elections.

"We've come up empty-handed," Pérez said. "And I've been here for I don't know how many seasons, yet I've only won seven European Cups and seven leagues -- which could have been 14 if they hadn't been stolen from me. We've made a video about the 18 points they've taken away from us this season. I just can't keep quiet about it.

"I have to speak out because, as president of Madrid, I cannot allow people in the media to take control just because we didn't win a league or a Champions [League] this year. They've already forgotten that two years ago I won a league and a Champions League. Now they're saying Madrid is in ruins, chaos... But it's the most prestigious club in the world and everyone recognises that."

"I want to put an end to this anti-Madridista sentiment that has taken hold in some sectors. We are going to call elections."

Perez had called the press conference to announce he was not resigning and instead standing for re-election, but the main reason for his appearance seemed to be a burning desire to set the record straight with the media.

Real Madrid is one of the most successful football clubs in modern football, having won more Champions League titles than any other European club. It is widely recognised internationally as a global football brand. Pérez is the club’s longest-serving president.

I don't see a point in this press conference. It seems like the purpose of it was to unleash a tirade as to why his side didn't win anything this season. He should've thought twice before doing it. If he achieved anything, it's a bad public image of himself. Some or most people will have a negative view of him now.

He shouldn't involve himself in other clubs' issues.