Ramon Calderon: Resigned.
Real Madrid's stand-in chief Vicente Boluda has announced that
the club's presidential elections will take place on July 5.
Boluda assumed the presidency on a temporary basis after Ramon
Calderon resigned from the post in January amid allegations of vote
rigging at the club's general assembly.
A re-run of the club's tainted assembly will take place on March
29, a weekend with no Primera Division games scheduled, and all
members must confirm the election date of July 5 before it becomes
official.
Boluda told AS: "It is not possible for the elections
to be held any earlier than that ... the elections also cannot be
held on the Sunday on the final matchday of this season because the
Statute prevents it."
"It will be on July 5. On the 7th, the players will return from
their vacations and on the 10th they would have started pre-season
training."
Former Real president Florentino Perez, who oversaw the start of
the galactico era at the Santiago Bernabeu, is an early
favourite to win the elections and has already stated he intends to
lure Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger and AC Milan star Kaka to the club
if he is voted into power.
It is normal procedure for candidates to make the signing of a
star player the cornerstone of their election campaign and we can
expect Europe's biggest stars to be linked with moves to Madrid in
the coming months - including the resumption of Real's long-running
pursuit of Manchester United star Cristiano
Ronaldo.
