Legend Iker Casillas has officially joined the election campaign of Enrique Riquelme, who is seeking to overthrow Florentino Pérez in the Real Madrid presidential election.
Enrique Riquelme continues to make waves ahead of the Real Madrid presidential election by announcing Iker Casillas as the newest member of his team.
The information was confirmed in a letter sent to club members on June 4. Accordingly, Casillas will take on a senior executive position if Riquelme wins. The specific role has not yet been announced. Casillas becomes the third Real Madrid legend to join this election campaign, following Raúl González and Fernando Hierro.
According to Riquelme’s plan, Raúl will serve as sporting director, while Hierro will be in charge of the La Fábrica academy. The trio of former captains is seen as central figures in the project to bring the “Real Madrid DNA” back to the Bernabéu.
One of Riquelme’s biggest commitments is to strengthen the role of legends in the club’s management. The Spanish businessman wants to build a model that combines recruiting top stars with developing players from the youth academy. “We want to both sign Galácticos and produce Galácticos,” Riquelme declared.
For Casillas, this is a notable return after years away from the scenes at Real Madrid. The legend, born in 1981, previously worked at the Real Madrid Foundation but parted ways with the club under less-than-ideal circumstances.
Following a heart attack while playing for Porto in 2019, the relationship between Casillas and Florentino Pérez gradually improved. The former Spanish national team goalkeeper returned to work within Real Madrid’s administration in late 2020.
However, recently Casillas quietly left his position to focus on personal projects. Accepting the invitation to join Riquelme’s campaign shows he is ready to return to the Bernabéu in a new role.
In the letter to members, Riquelme also emphasized the goal of reforming the club’s operations by increasing transparency, internal democracy, and the supervisory rights of the socios (members).
Notably, the campaign group pledged to protect Real Madrid’s traditional ownership model, while firmly opposing the involvement of financial investment funds in the club’s ownership structure. “Real Madrid is not for sale,” the campaign’s slogan reiterated.
The presence of Casillas gives Riquelme another major icon on his side. With Florentino Pérez under immense pressure following a disappointing season for Real Madrid, the upcoming election promises to attract special attention from fans.
