Some press conferences are forgettable.
Some are memorable.
Florentino Perez just held a press conference.
And it was unlike anything football has ever seen.
Florentino Perez writes football history at legendary press conference
According to MadridXtra, the Real Madrid president opened proceedings by apologising for the fact that he would not be resigning.
He then called for club elections three years ahead of schedule.
“Anyone who is spreading rumours against me can challenge me in the elections,” he said.
The rumours he’s referring to are extensive.
Reports have circulated in recent days suggesting Perez has cancer, something he denied outright and furiously.
Reports have also suggested he told his inner circle he’s tired.
“I work like an animal, day and night,” he said. “I don’t want publicity, fame, power or anything from this club.”
What followed was one of the most remarkable sequences ever broadcast from a football press conference.
Perez argued directly with an ABC journalist, announcing he would be cancelling his ABC subscription.
He further said it was to honour his father.
Then announced he would be cancelling it again, later in the same press conference.
He told a female journalist that he didn’t know if she even understood football.
Then asked the other journalists to let her speak, adding that “the rest of them are ugly.”
In between all of this, there were substantive points.
He said the club has the most valuable squad in the world according to Transfermarkt.
Also calling the Negreira case the worst scandal in football history.
Perez also declared La Liga an enemy of Real Madrid.
When asked about the Valverde and Tchouameni training ground fight that resulted in Valverde being hospitalised, he was dismissive.
“They are great boys and great players,” he said.
“This is not the first time two players have fought at Real Madrid. There were seasons where it happened all the time.”
He said that Real Madrid is the most prestigious club in the world.
He reminded the room that when he arrived at the club, the financial situation was so bad they couldn’t pay players or employees.
Now, he said, the club generates record earnings.
“This is not a dictatorship,” he said. “I am the most successful president in history.”
Perez closed by wishing the journalists good night.
And said he hoped he never saw them again.
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