BEVERLY HILLS, February 02, (THEWILL) – Florentino Perez, the Spanish businessman, civil engineer, and former politician, who is currently the President of Spanish football giants Real Madrid, has tested positive for coronavirus. The confirmation claims he remains asymptomatic but the test showed he had contracted the virus.
La Liga defending champions, Real, confirmed the news in an official statement on Tuesday: “Real Madrid CF would like to inform that our president Florentino Perez has tested positive in the COVID-19 tests that he periodically undergoes, although he is not showing any symptoms.”
Regular tests will be administered on the 73-year-old to continuously monitor his condition, although the club offered no further information on any potential knock-on effects for Los Blancos.
THEWILL recalls that head coach Zinedine Zidane had also previously tested positive for the virus before Real was due to play against Alaves in La Liga just under two weeks ago. The Frenchman recovered in time for the unfortunate loss to Levante at home on Saturday.
In a tight 2020/2021 La Liga race, Real are level on points with Barcelona, after some disappointing results, and trail city rivals Atletico Madrid by 10 solid points. Diego Simeone’s charges have taken full advantage of the internal and external circumstances and squad overhauls causing the duo of Barca and Real to struggle this season amid the ongoing pandemic.
Good transfer business like snatching a striker in the form of Luis Suarez from rivals at Camp Nou has done Los Rojiblancos a world of good and the results speak for themselves. They have only suffered one loss so far, which came against a rejuvenated Real.
Simeone can take his side to the trophy which will replicate his title winning 2013/2014 feat. If he succeeds, it would be only the second time that neither Real nor Barca have been crowned Spanish champions since 2004. And, it will once again be thanks to Simeone.
If there is anything Perez can do about that, the astute Spanish football administrator will not hesitate to try. He is currently in his second spell as president of the Spanish giants and is known for overseeing the infamous ‘Galactico’ period of the club in his first reign between 2000 to 2006.
The Spaniard returned to office in 2009 and the Los Blancos have won the Champions League five times during his two reigns.
About the Author
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
