Despite the lack of an immediate challenger, Perez insisted that the election is a legitimate opportunity for those who criticise his leadership to put their names forward. He took aim at anonymous detractors and specific critics.
"I'm calling for elections this year so there will be candidates. That man who talks to the electric companies and has a South American accent, let him run. A Mexican accent. They say we're very bad, that we're a dictatorship. Let this man we're talking about run, and anyone else who wants to," Perez said.
He concluded: "Florentino isn't going to leave until the members want him to. Those who want to run should run and say they're going to do better. That's what I did before 2000, when the dead were voting. Are we going back to that era? No. We are working to make football and Madrid better, and we are going to achieve many things."