According to The Athletic reporters Mario Cortegana and Guillermo Rai, Spanish tennis legend Rafael Nadal is set to join the Real Madrid board of directors. The appointment still requires approval in a vote by club members on November 21, but it is not expected to meet any opposition. Some within Real Madrid believe Nadal could eventually succeed Florentino Pérez Rodríguez as club president. However, he currently faces two major hurdles: length of membership and the financial guarantee requirement.
Nadal, 40, has been a Real Madrid fan since childhood, even though his uncle Miguel Ángel Nadal played for Barcelona from 1991 to 1999.
Both during his tennis career and after retiring, Nadal frequently attended Real Madrid matches at the Santiago Bernabéu, and sometimes traveled with the team to away games. In 2022, he was at the Stade de France to see Real Madrid beat Liverpool in the Champions League final. A week later, he won the French Open in Paris, his 22nd and final Grand Slam title.
Nadal retired in 2024. During his playing career, Real Madrid often congratulated him through official channels whenever he reached a significant milestone. In 2011, he was awarded honorary membership of the club.
The news that Real Madrid plans to invite Nadal onto the board came as a surprise, and the club has not yet officially clarified what his specific responsibilities will be.
Given Nadal's global fame, he is expected to attend relevant events from time to time as a club ambassador or representative.
However, club sources, who asked not to be named because they were not authorized to speak publicly, said Nadal would have "speaking and voting rights" from the start of his board membership and would take part in club decisions alongside the other board members.
The Real Madrid board has 19 members, but real power rests almost entirely with Florentino Pérez Rodríguez, although general manager José Ángel Sánchez also wields considerable influence.
Nevertheless, the sources interviewed expect Nadal's influence within the club to grow gradually over time.
Senior Real Madrid sources said that many board members are getting older and that it is time to introduce new people gradually. The club hopes to build a strong management team around Florentino Pérez Rodríguez to ensure a smooth transition of power in the future.
In October this year, Real Madrid announced that Bernd Reichart, former CEO of the company promoting the European Super League project, would join the club's management team as commercial director. Real Madrid had been a staunch supporter of the Super League, but the project ultimately failed to materialize as planned.
Asked whether Nadal is being groomed as the future Real Madrid president, some within the club believe that possibility exists. Talk of Florentino Pérez Rodríguez eventually handing the presidency to Nadal has already surfaced inside Real Madrid.
In fact, Nadal has repeatedly said, both during his career and after retiring, that he would like to become Real Madrid president one day.
Meanwhile, general manager Sánchez has made it clear internally that he has no intention of running for president.
Florentino Pérez Rodríguez's financial advisor, Anas Laghrari, is not a board member but holds considerable power and influence within the club. However, people close to him insist that becoming Real Madrid president is not part of his plans. In addition, neither Sánchez nor Laghrari is likely to meet the eligibility requirements for a presidential candidate.
Florentino Pérez Rodríguez, 79, was re-elected in Real Madrid's presidential election in June this year, defeating 37-year-old renewable energy entrepreneur Enrique Riquelme with 65% of the vote. Riquelme was the only candidate to challenge Florentino Pérez Rodríguez, and roughly 100,000 Real Madrid members were eligible to vote.
It was the first time in 20 years that Real Madrid members chose a club president by vote. In the previous five election cycles, in 2009, 2013, 2017, 2021 and 2025, Florentino Pérez Rodríguez was elected unopposed.
Florentino Pérez Rodríguez first served as Real Madrid president from 2000 to 2006 and returned to the post in 2009. Although his current term could have run until 2029, he chose to call elections this year. According to Florentino Pérez Rodríguez, this was because rivals were "acting in the shadows."
However, it will not be easy for Nadal to become Real Madrid president. The club has strict eligibility rules for presidential candidates, some of which stem from amendments to the club's statutes in September 2012.
Under the current rules, a Real Madrid presidential candidate must be a Spanish national and have been a club member for at least 20 years, up from 10 years previously.
Nadal became an honorary Real Madrid member in 2011, which means that, based on the calculation method reported, he would not be eligible to run for president until 2031 at the earliest.
But the truly critical restriction is the financial guarantee requirement that Florentino Pérez Rodríguez pushed through in 2012.
Under this rule, any presidential candidate must provide a bank guarantee equivalent to 15% of Real Madrid's annual budget.
Real Madrid's budget for the 2025-26 season is 1.25 billion euros, so a candidate would need to provide a guarantee of approximately 187 million euros.
Earlier this year, the American magazine Forbes estimated Nadal's personal net worth at around 220 million US dollars, or about 196 million euros. That figure is only slightly above the required guarantee, so he would still face considerable financial strain.
Beyond the question of a future presidential successor, Nadal's arrival on the Real Madrid board is also seen as carrying political significance.
Over the past two seasons, Real Madrid has faced heavy criticism over the team's poor performances. By building a closer relationship with Nadal, Florentino Pérez Rodríguez and his allies can draw on the tennis legend's popularity among Real Madrid fans to improve their own standing.
The appointment is also seen as a blow to Riquelme.
In the presidential election in June this year, Riquelme received 35% of the vote, a result that surprised the Real Madrid board and fell short of what they had hoped for.
Riquelme and Nadal have close personal and business ties. After the presidential election this summer, the two were photographed together in Croatia.
In addition, Riquelme's renewable energy company, Cox Energy, sponsors Nadal's padel team and his electric boat racing team.
In the weeks before the presidential election, Nadal even had to publicly deny rumors that he would back Riquelme or join his campaign team to challenge Florentino Pérez Rodríguez.
Even so, it was still widely believed that Nadal might choose to support Riquelme at some point in the future.
However, with the news this week that Nadal is about to join the Real Madrid board, that possibility now looks much less likely.
A Real Madrid insider said Nadal joining the board was "something both sides have long wanted to happen."
Riquelme's camp, however, took a different view of the appointment, describing it as "a textbook distraction strategy."