Soccer-Nadal lined up to join Perez on Real Madrid board

Real Madrid are set to add a champion from another sporting arena to their boardroom, with 22-times ‌tennis Grand Slam winner Rafael Nadal's appointment as a director to be put to members for ratification, the club said on Wednesday. The board ‌agreed at its November 4 meeting to submit the appointment to the General Assembly of Delegated Members.

Nadal is already an honorary member of the club. "It is a source of immense pride for ‌Real Madrid and for all our supporters that a figure of his sporting and personal ‌stature.

is to join our Board of Directors," Real said in a statement. The club highlighted Nadal's sporting achievements, including 92 tour singles titles, two Olympic gold medals, five Davis Cup triumphs with Spain and the world number ⁠one ranking.

Real said his qualities beyond ⁠those honours - including humility, respect for opponents and commitment to charity - also reflected the club's identity. "All these values form ⁠part of Real Madrid's identity, and Rafael Nadal has embodied and championed them throughout his sporting career," the statement said.

"I would like to thank President Florentino Perez and ⁠the Board for inviting me to join the Board of Directors of Real Madrid," he wrote on social media. "I have ⁠accepted this invitation with great enthusiasm, keen to learn and to contribute as much as I can.

Nadal, who retired from tennis in November 2024, has long been touted as a ⁠potential successor to Real president Florentino Perez, although he has played down the prospect. Perez, 79, secured ⁠another four-year term in ⁠June after Real's first contested presidential election in two decades.

More than a third of voting members backed challenger Enrique Riquelme, who opposed plans ‌to bring outside ‌investment into the member-owned club. (This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed."