The report says Infantino’s message arrived less than a week before Real Madrid members vote on 7 June. That alone makes it notable. In most club elections, candidates fight over football plans, finances and identity. Here, the backdrop also includes the global game’s most powerful administrator publicly backing the long-serving incumbent.
The same update says the two men had met in Budapest around the Champions League final, with Perez attending as a guest of despite Madrid not being involved in the match. That detail sharpens the optics. Even if the message was intended as praise for a major football figure, it lands in the middle of an active campaign.
Perez is widely seen as a central figure in football’s boardroom battles. He has long pushed big, global ideas, and he appears to be closely aligned with ’s drive to elevate the expanded Club World Cup. That is why Infantino’s intervention feels politically loaded.
Put simply, when and Madrid are publicly aligned, people notice.
The report says Perez, 79, is facing a challenger for the first time in more than 20 years, with Enrique Riquelme, 37, offering an alternative pitch. Perez appears to be leaning on legacy and stability. Riquelme, by contrast, is reportedly trying to make the race about ideas, appointments and the club’s next phase.
The next step is obvious: the vote itself. If Perez wins again, attention will quickly swing back to Real Madrid’s role in the Club World Cup and the club’s place in football’s next power struggle.