Enrique Riquelme considers taking a step towards Real Madrid election bid

Enrique Riquelme is considering running for the presidency of Real Madrid in the imminent elections following Florentino Pérez’s announcement. The news caught the 37-year-old businessman, owner and president of the Cox Energy group, by surprise. He was flying from Panama to Mexico, where he currently resides, after closing a major business deal. The past few hours have been hectic for him, and he has now decided to travel to Madrid to assess his options for entering the race, an idea he has not ruled out since first hinting at it in 2021.

Riquelme is due to travel to Spain in the coming hours to meet with his trusted team, people with whom he has already worked on a potential project to lead Real Madrid. The sudden announcement of elections leaves very little room for manoeuvre for anyone seeking to challenge Florentino Pérez. Within ten days, candidates must form a board of at least nine members, including a vice-president who has been a club member for at least 15 years (20 years in the case of the president). In addition, they must collectively raise a guarantee equivalent to 15% of the club’s budget, around €187 million (approximately $206 million) out of €1.2 billion (approximately $1.32 billion).

However, according to sources close to the businessman, Riquelme is set to assess his chances of running. The past few months have been particularly demanding, as his company completed the €4 billion (approximately $4.4 billion) acquisition of Iberdrola Mexico, alongside other major deals. This has kept him occupied, but he now appears to have found the time to consider entering these unexpected elections.

Born in Cox, Alicante, Riquelme, despite being only 37, has been a Real Madrid member for more than 20 years and is therefore eligible to stand for president. He comes from a family of Madrid supporters; his father was a board member under Ramón Calderón. When he first floated the idea of running in 2021, Riquelme was 32. Since then, he has taken steps to build relationships with prominent figures at Real Madrid, focusing on a project he has never fully abandoned.

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