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Real Madrid president Florentino Perez has landed in hot water for a series of leaked controversial and defamatory remarks he made against former Los Blancos players and managers.
In a series of audio recordings released by El Confidencial, Perez is heard criticizing and belittling some of the most successful players and managers to have represented the club. The clippings are mostly from the period 2006 to 2012.
The Real Madrid president has put out an official statement saying that the quotes were 'taken out of context, recorded illegally and are part of a conspiracy for his involvement in the controversial Super League project'. But the damage may have already been done.
The complete statement from Perez read:
"Following the article published by El Confidencial that features comments that I have been credited as having made, I believe that it is important to clarify that:
- The published quotes were part of conversations secretly recorded by Mr José Antonio Abellan, who has been trying to sell the recordings for many years without any success. I find it surprising that they have been published today by El Confidencial, despite the time that has elapsed.
- They are isolated quotes that were part of conversations and have been taken out of the wider context in which they were made.
- I understand that the fact that they have been published now, so many years on from the time the conversations took place, owes to my involvement as one of the driving forces behind the Super League.
- I have placed the matter in the hands of my lawyers, who are examining the course of action to be taken."
On that note, let's have a look at the ten of the most infamous comments Florentino Perez allegedly made about former Real Madrid players and managers.
#10 "Michel (Real Madrid legend) kicked Juan Mata out of the Castilla, so he could replace him with his son. He's a fraud." (2006)
A Real Madrid legend, Michel played over 500 games for the club, scoring 130 goals. After his retirement, he managed his former club's youth teams in 2006 and was the coach of Real Madrid Castilla, where he coached one of his sons, Adrien.
However, after Castilla were relegated to the third division, Michel was sacked from his job. And he reportedly also resigned from managing the youth teams after disagreements with the then Real Madrid president Ramon Calderon.
Florentino Perez allegedly called Michel a 'fraud' and said that the latter 'kicked out' Juan Mata from Real Madrid Castilla to accommodate his son.
#9 "I wanted to sell Roberto Carlos to Chelsea in exchange for (Ricardo) Carvalho, and then signed (Gianluca) Zambrotta for like 2 Euros." (2006)
One of the most celebrated left-backs to have played the game, Roberto Carlos had a fruitful 11-year stint with Real Madrid.
The Brazilian made over 500 appearances for the club in all competitions, scoring 68 goals. Carlos won four league and three Champions League titles with Real Madrid. But he was apparently not in the good books of Florentino Perez, who wanted to sell the player in 2006, a year before Carlos eventually left Madrid.
Perez allegedly said about Carlos that he wanted to sell him to Chelsea, who were interested in his services. In return, Madrid would have had Ricardo Carvalho and then signed Italian Gianluca Zambrotta for 'two Euros'.
Carvalho arrived at Madrid in 2010, three long years after Carlos left the club, while Zambrotta never arrived at the Spanish giants.
#8 "Figo and Raul were the worst. Zidane was the best." (2006)
Portuguese legend Luis Figo and Raul are two of the biggest names to have played for Real Madrid since the turn of the century.
Figo arrived on a controversial direct transfer from Barcelona, while Raul played most of his career for Real Madrid and was the club's all-time top scorer before Cristiano Ronaldo overtook him.
The Portuguese scored 56 goals in five seasons (2000-2005), helping Real Madrid win two league and one Champions League title. Raul, meanwhile, scored over 300 goals for the Spanish giants.
Zinedine Zidane was another big-name player who played alongside the duo at Real Madrid. The Frenchman is renowned for his brilliant winner against Bayer Leverkusen in the 2002 Champions League final in Glasgow.
However, Perez alleged that because of Figo and Raul, Real Madrid 'stopped' playing beautiful football, calling the duo the worst (to have played for the club) and Zidane the best.
#7 "Figo came and became close with Raul, and those two, along with Hierro, managed the squad. Poor Vicente (del Bosque) wasn't doing anything." (2006)
Vincente del Bosque was at the Real Madrid helm in the early 2000s when the Galacticos like Ronaldo Nazario, Luis Figo, Zinedine Zidane and David Beckham played for the club.
Del Bosque was credited for managing the egos of so many superstars, and was renowned for never losing his cool in front of the media or openly confronting his players. Real Madrid won two league and Champions League titles under the soft-spoken Spaniard.
However, Florentino Perez, in an audio clip dated 2006, criticised Del Bosque for 'not doing anything' and allowing the likes of Figo, Raul and Fernando Hierro to manage the squad.
That was unwarranted criticism of one of Real Madrid and Spain's most successful managers since the turn of the century. Del Bosque also led Spain to their only FIFA World Cup title in 2010 and a successful defence of their European Championship title two years later.
#6 "Raúl is bad; he believes that Madrid is his. It's terrible what a bad kid he is." (2006)
Raul is one of the most decorated players in the history of Real Madrid. During a near two-decade-long stint at the club, the striker made close to 750 appearances in all competitions and scored 324 goals.
He helped the club win six league and three Champions League titles, with his tally only surpassed by Cristiano Ronaldo in Real Madrid's all-time scoring charts.
Nevertheless, Florentino Perez thought that Raul was a 'bad' player for the club, one who apparently thought that he was bigger than the club. Perez also alleged that Raul was the reason why he left the club.
#5 "(Fabio) Coentrao's another guy who doesn't have his head, and (Jose) Mourinho is an imbecile." (2012)
Then Real Madrid manager Jose Mourinho brought his countryman, Fabio Coentrao, to the club in 2011 in a transfer worth €30 million.
Coentrao seemed to have the faith of Mourinho, donning a variety of roles in midfield and defence during his first two years at the club and making 63 appearances in all competitions. But after Mourinho left the club in 2013, Coentrao rapidly slid down the pecking order. A combination of poor form and injury meant Coentrao made only 43 appearances in his next five seasons at Real Madrid.
Florentino Perez allegedly said about Coentrao in 2012 that the player lacked a 'head' and is not 'normal'. Perez called Mourinho an 'imbecile' for apparently bringing in a player like Coentrao to Real Madrid.
#4 "All the money Jorge Mendes and Porto's president took from the Russian (Abramovich), for Mourinho, Carvalho, Ferreira, they take all that money to a Swiss bank account." (2007)
Jorge Mendes is one of the best-known football agents in the world, representing the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, Jose Mourinho, David de Gea, Joao Felix and Diego Costa, among others.
It was Mendes who brokered the move of Mourinho to Chelsea in 2004 along with Ricardo Carvalho and Paulo Ferreira. The Blues, who were recently bought by Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich, snapped up Mourinho and two of his key players who unexpectedly won the 2004 Champions League with Porto.
Three years later, Real Madrid president Florentino Perez allegedly said that the money earned by Mendes and the Porto president for the Mourinho, Carvalho and Ferreira deals went to a 'Swiss account'.
The statement was apparently made three years before Mourinho and Carvalho arrived at Real Madrid.
#3 "Del Bosque doesn't know how to coach and knows nothing about tactics. He's the biggest fraud I've ever seen in my life." (2006)
Vicente del Bosque is one of the most successful managers in the recent history of Real Madrid.
The 70-year-old, who also led Spain to a FIFA World Cup and European Championship title. He managed Real Madrid in the early 2000s, when Galacticos like Zidane, Figo, Ronaldo Nazario and Beckham played for the club.
Despite Del Bosque leading the club to league and continental success, Florentino Perez alleged that the tactician knew 'nothing about tactics'. As if that was not enough, Perez added that Del Bosque was the 'biggest fraud' he has ever met.
Perez also said that no one offered Del Bosque a (managerial) job because of the latter's questionable credentials. Interestingly, the comments came in the midst of Del Bosque's eight-year stint in charge of Spain, where he led La Furia Roja to their maiden FIFA World Cup title followed by a successful title defence at Euro 2012.
#2 "(Iker) Casillas has been a great failure we’ve had….Well, one of the great scams, and the second one is Raúl. The two great Madrid scams.” (2006)
Raul and Iker Casillas are two of the greatest players to have played for Real Madrid.
While Raul made over 700 appearances and scored ov300 goals for the club in an almost two-decade-long career, Casillas was another distinguished performer for Real Madrid.
Casillas, who is regarded as one of the greatest goalkeepers in the history of the sport, played over 700 games for the club and won multiple league and Champions League titles.
However, Florentino Perez belittled the exploits of both legends and called them the two biggest 'scams' in the history of Real Madrid. He said that Casillas was not a goalkeeper for Real Madrid and was a big 'failure'.
In another leaked recording about Casillas, who captained Spain to multiple European Championship triumphs on either side of winning the FIFA World Cup, Perez said that:
"Casillas isn't tall, and he can't even see well. They shoot from outside the box, from corners."
#1 "Cristiano (Ronaldo) is mad. That guy is an idiot." (2012)
Cristiano Ronaldo is easily one of the greatest - if not the greatest - players to have ever played for Real Madrid.
In a hugely successful nine-season stint with the Spanish giants, Ronaldo scored 450 goals in all competitions at better than a goal per game, leaving the club's second-highest goalscorer (Raul) a distant second.
The Portuguese tallied an unbelievable 50 goals per season for the club during his nine-season stay and was a key reason why Madrid won the Champions League three-peat in 2018. However, Florentino Perez did not even spare Ronaldo, calling the Portugal captain 'mad', 'idiot' and 'abnormal'.
The comment was apparently made when Ronaldo scored 46 league goals to inspire Real Madrid to the 2011-12 La Liga title. That made the then Los Blancos striker the first in Spanish top-flight history to register consecutive 40-goal campaigns.
Three years after leaving Real Madrid in 2018, a 36-year-old Ronaldo became the first Juventus player to score 100 goals for the Italian giants in their first three seasons at the club.
