‘I’d like Barcelona to disappear,’ says Real Madrid presidential candidate Enrique Riquelme

Real Madrid‘s presidential election has set up a power struggle for the first time in 20 years after Florentino Pérez called for a vote. His rival in the race is Enrique Riquelme, who had some strong words for Barcelona in an interview on the podcast “The Wild Project.”

Riquelme said: “I want to see Barcelona in the second division. I’d love that. I wouldn’t have any problem with it, and I’d be happy about it. And that’s not meant as any disrespect. I’d also like Barcelona to disappear. I wouldn’t have any problem with that.”

This should be a very important weekend for the fans voting after a long stretch in which Pérez had presented himself without anyone challenging him as Sunday marks election day.

Riquelme accuses Pérez of helping Barcelona

While the current situation between the clubs is very tense, there were other times when they were allies. That was not on the sporting side, but on the business side when they were discussing deals involving broadcasting rights and similar matters.

That is where Riquelme continued to speak about Barcelona, except this time he also said that Pérez helped their archrivals get back on their feet during difficult times.

Riquelme said: “At every celebration when they were down and out. If I had been there, I can assure you that not only would I not have helped them, but I wouldn’t have extended a hand either. It’s a healthy rivalry, but if you’ve competed in a way that involved using money to pay the vice president of the referees.”

Riquelme on Pérez

A lot has been said about each other during this short campaign. Riquelme also pointed to the people around Pérez as the ones making the decisions, while adding that many of the negotiations the club has been involved in have included personal interests.

Riquelme said: “Through his personal company, as well as other new businesses he owns, he bills Real Madrid directly and indirectly for everything. He’s involved in the Super League because he’s a shareholder in the company that created it, and also in the privatization process he’s carrying out on his own.”