With the calm of a seventieth man, selective words and a coherent narrative of numbers and data, Real Madrid President Florentino Perez appeared for the first time to defend the European Super League, a competition he had dreamed of embodying for nearly 20 years.
In the face of the earthquake caused by 12 clubs announcing the launch of the new competition, and the fiery statements of UEFA President Alexander Tsivrin, who chose the terms "traitor, liar, and encouraged" to attack those clubs, Perez appeared to present a different image of the tournament he is leading her team. The founder, and assured that it will not be restricted to the rich and will be the beginning of a new era of football in line with the changes the world is witnessing.
But why is Peres sitting here and defending what he believes is the best future of football? The answer takes us back to the beginning of the current century, when Perez, who came from the business world, appeared to lead Real Madrid to a new glory after years of retreat due to economic troubles.
The French magazine, Le Point, drew the features of the man during his long years with Real Madrid, and stated that he was keen not to show his elitist tendencies even though he is a "pure product" for that elite, as he does not only run one of the richest clubs in the world;
But he also heads the multinational construction company ACS with more than 180,000 employees spread across the world from the United States to Australia.
Ranked by Harvard University as one of the 25 best CEOs in the world, he is the ninth largest Spanish net worthy of $ 2.3 billion, according to Forbes magazine.
Perez transferred his success from the business world to football by creating a "galaticos" revolution at the beginning of his career with Real Madrid, by contracting with the best players in the world, and exploiting the accompanying media fanfare and public interest to achieve greater profits from broadcasting rights and club sales, He adopted one slogan in all of his deals, "He was born to someday become a player at Real Madrid."
Perez, who recently got out of his experience with Corona at the age of 74, has never stopped his ambitions, in addition to his pursuit of the services of the best players, at the forefront of which are currently rising stars Kylian Mbappe and Erling Haaland, he is closely following the project to renew the Santiago Bernabeu stadium as part of his plans to keep Real Madrid is at the forefront in terms of money and sports.
Perez is the "mastermind" of the European Super League competition # Spanish Super League # European Super League # Real Madrid https://t.co/yD73eYq0r6
- beIN SPORTS (@beINSPORTS) April 19, 2021
Perez's projects and plans are based on what has been achieved during two periods at the helm of Real Madrid (2000-2006 and 2009 until today) through 26 football titles, including 5 leagues in Spain and 5 Champions League.
On a personal level, Florentino Perez is one of those leaders, who value work, someone who is able to have a business conversation that takes several hours in the middle of a weekend.
The engineer of bridges and roads, who held positions of responsibility in several ministries (industry, energy, agriculture), said in previous statements, "I have never worked to make money. I do not know how much I own, and I do not know how to make use of that money."
But that did not prevent him from constructing a huge, luxurious building of 2,600 square meters that he shares with his three sons.