Real Madrid Members To Take Legal Action Against Recently-Increased Presidential Criteria

A group of Real Madrid members will "take legal action in the next few days against a new regulation regarding what is required for club members to become candidates for the club's presidency," according to Marco Ruiz of AS. The "group of dissenting members is headed by Rafael Martinez Campillo and includes 15 other members." The proposed modifications to Real Madrid's requirements would mean presidential candidates would "need 20 years' experience as a member (instead of 10) to run for president and 15 years' member experience (instead of five) to run as VP." Any presidential candidate will also need to acquire a bank's pre-guarantee of 15% of the club's budget (currently €84M ($115M)), with the guarantee "having to come from an entity credited in Spain -- loans from foreign creditors would not be valid." This "financial requirement, in addition to a minimum of a 20-year tenure as a member, would drastically reduce the circle of possible candidates" (AS, 2/20).