Real Madrid president Florentino Pérez has been deeply embarrassed by a leaked audio file from 2006 in which he smashes club icons Iker Casillas and Raúl to the ground. In the fifteen-year-old sound clip, published by El Confidencial, Pérez calls the duo ‘the two biggest scammers in club history’. At the time the recording was made, Pérez had just finished his first term as president of the Royal behind.
After a six-year term, Perez resigned as Real Madrid president in 2006. In the audio fragment he mentions Raúl as one of the reasons for leaving the Santiago Bernabéu. Pérez accuses the then Real Madrid striker of ‘destroying’ the club. “It’s really bad. It is believed that Real Madrid is his,” said 74-year-old Pérez in the leaked audio clip.
Like Raúl, Casillas was also a fixed value in the main force at the time. At the time, Pérez had a clear opinion about the now former goalkeeper: “Iker Casillas is not a goalkeeper for Real Madrid. What do you want me to say about it? He isn’t, he never was. He’s the biggest failure we’ve had,” Pérez said in the 15-year-old conversation.
“You have people who worship him; I don’t understand any of that. People defend him, but he is a big con man. Just like Raul. The two biggest scammers in Real Madrid’s history are Raul and Casillas,” Perez added. “They are very selfish and you can’t count on them. Anyone who does count on them is wrong.”
Pérez, who, according to El Confidencial not having the need to rule the leaked conversation, returned as Real Madrid president in 2009. A year after Pérez’s return, Raúl left for Schalke 04, while Casillas stayed in Madrid until 2015 before moving to FC Porto. The two club icons have since returned to the club. Casillas works as an assistant to General Manager José Ángel Sánchez; Raul is the manager of Real Madrid Castilla.