MADRID, May 27 (Reuters) - Enrique Riquelme launched his presidential campaign for Real Madrid on Wednesday with promises of swimming pools, padel courts and a battle for the club's soul, rather than various quick fixes to a two-year trophy drought.
The renewables tycoon, standing against Florentino Perez in the first Real Madrid presidential election in 20 years featuring a challenger, presented plans to transform the club's Valdebebas training ground on the outskirts of the Spanish capital into "La Ciudad del Socio" — The Members' City.
The project, Riquelme said, would turn the area into a vast social hub for Madrid's members, with an exclusive hotel, swimming pools, a gym, tennis and padel courts, basketball courts, football pitches and activities designed to bring supporters closer to a club he says has drifted away from them.
The plans also include an arena for Real Madrid's basketball team that would also serve as a concert venue, with capacity for 15,000 spectators.
Riquelme did not say how much the new development would cost or how the club would pay for it.
He also pledged to cut membership fees by 50% and said he would make 10,000 season tickets available through a lottery, giving the club's more than 100,000 members the chance to become season ticket holders via a draw instead of "holding for years in a waiting list".
His pitch lands squarely against a proposal raised by Perez last November to create a subsidiary that would allow outside investors to buy a stake of around 5% in the club, described in the text as the world's most valuable football club.
Riquelme said he "vehemently rejects" the plan and accused Perez of wanting to "privatise the club".
Perez's proposal has not yet gone ahead and would require members to approve a change to the club's statutes at an extraordinary general meeting.
"In the 1950s, Real Madrid was a members' club. The members felt they were part of something. They knew they were the ones in charge. Between 2004 and 2026, Real Madrid lost its essence, and the members lost their club," Riquelme said.
"This is one of the main reasons why I decided to step forward."
Riquelme said the project had been years in the making.
"Today is a very special day. There's no room for improvisation. We've been working on this project since 2021," he said. "Real Madrid is a global club, but it belongs to its members. This is the foundation of our project."
(Reporting by Fernando KallasEditing by Christian Radnedge)
