BARCELONA, Spain (AP) 鈥� Florentino P茅rez has earned four more years as Real Madrid鈥檚 president after on Sunday.
鈥淲e are going to keep working so that Real Madrid keeps winning more titles,鈥� he told his supporters at a late night victory party soon after Real Madrid’s club television channel reported P茅rez had beaten challenger Enrique Riquelme.
The club is yet to make the vote count public.
P茅rez鈥檚 victory will pave the way for him to for a second stint at Madrid. Mourinho, who coached Madrid from 2010-2013, was featured in promotional material for P茅rez during the campaign.
P茅rez said he was 鈥減roud that Jos茅 Mourinho, one of the best coaches in the world, is set to return.鈥�
P茅rez has also said he wants to sign Liverpool center back Ibrahima Konat茅 and Inter Milan right back Denzel Dumfries, in addition to a pledge to bring in another major signing to be disclosed this week worth more than 150 million euros ($173 million).
The 79-year-old P茅rez ran Madrid from 2000-2006 and from 2009 until now. Under his leadership, Madrid has won seven of its record 15 European Cups.
Madrid has also been the most valuable club in the world for the last five years, according to Forbes.
P茅rez, who also runs an international construction company, hadn’t been challenged for Madrid鈥檚 presidency by a rival candidate in over 20 years. He ran unchallenged when elections were scheduled in 2009, 2013, 2017, 2021 and 2025.
That said, P茅rez has had a frustrating run of late. His Super League scheme to launch a rival competition to UEFA鈥檚 Champions League , and Madrid has gone two seasons without winning a title despite recruiting star striker .
P茅rez has also been criticized for last year floating the idea of , a move that would break with 124 years of the member ownership model.
Riquelme congratulated P茅rez and accepted the result. But he signaled that he will consider running again. P茅rez鈥檚 term will run through 2030.
鈥淔or us, this is not the end, this is the beginning,鈥� Riquelme said. 鈥淩eal Madrid won鈥檛 spend another 20 years without holding elections.鈥�
Riquelme, a renewable energy executive, launched his candidacy after an announced elections last month during a news conference when he dared anyone to challenge him and denounced what he called a media campaign to topple him.
Despite being relatively unknown to the wider public, the 37-year-old Riquelme mounted a credible campaign after getting the backing of former Madrid players such as Ra煤l Gonz谩lez, Fernando Hierro and Iker Casillas. He also promised to sign . City and Haaland’s agent dismissed the chance of him moving to Madrid this summer.
There were 98,000 club members eligible to vote. The election was held at Madrid鈥檚 basketball pavilion because the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium is being used for an event by during his weeklong visit to Spain.
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