Perez heading for re-election despite season of setbacks

Florentino Perez is widely expected to be re-elected Real Madrid president on Sunday despite poor results on the pitch and controversies off it having taken the shine off his four-year reign.

The construction magnate is being challenged by his predecessor Lorenzo Sanz and businessman Arturo Baldasano for the right to run one of the most influential institutions in world football.

But neither is likely to be able to stop the bespectacled 57-year-old from being elected for a second term.

Sanz, 59, still carries some heavy baggage from his time as president when he was accused of leading Real to the brink of financial disaster and running the club like a personal fiefdom.

Baldasano, on the other hand, is making his first foray into football politics and has admitted he has been taken by surprise by the bruising campaign run by his more experienced rivals.

But the fact the two men have dared to challenge Perez is an indication that the shine has been taken off his presidency by events of the last 12 months.

Inflicting a surprise defeat on Sanz in the 2000 election, Perez appeared to have the Midas touch during his first three years, clearing the club's debts with the sale of their city-centre training ground and embarking on a $200 million spending spree to bring Zinedine Zidane, Ronaldo and David Beckham to the Bernabeu.

But Real ended last season without winning a major trophy for the first time in five years, finishing their league campaign with the team being jeered at their Bernabeu stadium after a record fifth defeat in a row.

Both Sanz and Baldasano said the club's miserable season was a product of Perez's policy of paying more attention to marketing than the footballing needs of the team.

They said Beckham was surplus to requirements and the club should have bought a player to help shore up its leaky back four and that the arrival of the England captain only served to spark a prurient interest in the private lives of players.

Off the pitch the European Union announced it would launch an investigation into the club's 480 million-euro sale of its city centre training ground to the local authority.

Perez's rivals have also accused him of camouflaging the true state of the club's economic position.

Sanz said Real's debts have increased to over 380 million euros since Perez took charge and he has squandered the money from the training ground sale.

Baldasano, meanwhile, has said that Real have lost their traditional values of humility and hard work and that players and officials at the club have become increasingly arrogant.

"Real have lost the hearts of much of Spain," said Baldasano. "Today the club is despised because of Perez's arrogance and pomposity."

But despite the criticisms of his presidency, Perez is still likely to gain overwhelming support from the 65,000 club members who are entitled to vote in Sunday's election.

Perez has been given credit for solving the club's economic problems and of making Real the most glamorous and marketable club side in world football.

Most club members view last season as a temporary blip and see two league titles and victories in the European Cup and the World Club Cup as a fairer reflection of his achievements.

"Four years ago the club was in danger of becoming the property of its creditors," Perez told Spanish daily El Pais on Friday. "Today we have 171 million euros in the bank."

"The club is now run in a professional, transparent and modern way. We promised the best players in the world would come to Real and they have...The only limit in the future are the dreams of the club members."

Despite the disappointments of the last 12 months Real members are almost certain to buy into Perez's dreams for a further four years.