Florentino Perez like Fidel Castro: Spoke for 78 minutes, attacked everyone - UEFA, La Liga, Barcelona, referees...

(Patria) - At the annual General Assembly of Real Madrid, President Florentino Pérez gave a speech that will be talked about for a long time.

In an address lasting as long as 78 minutes, the head of the "royal club" openly attacked almost all structures of modern football – UEFA, La Liga, referees, Javier Tebas, and even the European Club Association (ECA).

Spanish media report that delegates accompanied Pérez's words with unprecedented ovations, which speaks volumes about how strongly his message resonated, reports N1.

"No one can determine Real Madrid's fate" - Pérez reiterated his frontal attack on UEFA, stating that Real Madrid will not abandon the initiative to establish its own competition, saying that UEFA "abuses its monopoly".

"We are not against football, but we are against what is illegal and unethical. UEFA cannot determine the fate of clubs nor force us to play competitions in formats that are not good for the fans," said Pérez.

He added that Real Madrid has the right to billions of euros in compensation and the right to organize its own tournament.

"UEFA only cares about its voters. That's why they force us to play matches in Asia or almost on the border with China. That is not normal in the 21st century."

His words about the state of refereeing in Spain were particularly resonant:

"The level of refereeing in La Liga is unacceptable. It is a great shame that FIFA did not choose a single Spanish referee among the top 35 in the world."

Then he touched upon the biggest scandal in Spanish football – the Negreira case:

"It is unacceptable that FC Barcelona has been paying the Vice-President of the Referees' Committee over eight million euros for years. And precisely during the period in which they achieved their best results."

He didn't spare Tebas either:

"The president of La Liga continues to lose millions of our money on pointless projects. I don't know what was worse – the way he reacted to the players' strike or the censorship during match broadcasts."

Pérez revealed that the European Club Association asked Real to abandon the fight against UEFA.

"That would mean giving up billions of euros that we will eventually receive. Of course, we refused."

Towards the end of his speech, Pérez touched upon the sporting aspect: he thanked Luka Modrić for everything he has given to the club, praised the work of coach Carlo Ancelotti, expressed great confidence in coach Xabi Alonso, and emphasized the importance of the new generation coming from Real's academy.

However, that part of the speech remained in the shadow of the heavy artillery he fired towards the top of European football.

During a video dedicated to the tragically deceased Diogo Jota and his brother Andre Silva, a mistake was made – instead of Silva's photo, an image of Elche player Andre da Silva appeared. Real immediately apologized to the player and the club.