Florentino Perez described Raul and Iker Casillas as ‘the two great frauds of Real Madrid’ in a 2006 conversation that was taped and has now been revealed.
His scathing criticism of the two club legends came in a private conversation in September 2006, six months after his first tenure as president came to a close.
Perez accused striker Raul of ‘destroying’ Real Madrid through his negativity and blames him for his exit earlier that year, while Casillas is described as a ‘great failure’.
Florentino Perez was scathing in his criticism of Real Madrid legends Raul and Iker Casillas in a November 2006 conversation which was taped and has now come to light
Striker Raul (left) was accused by Perez of creating a negative atmosphere within the club in the leaked tape, while goalkeeper Casillas (right) was described as not good enough
He added: ‘The two great Real Madrid scams are Raul first and Casillas second.’
Spanish website El Confidencial have published the conversation from 15 years ago and it is likely to cause embarrassment for Perez, who returned to the presidency in 2009 and remains in post.
Raul is the current manager of Real Madrid Castilla, the club’s reserve team, and so is an employee of Perez.
Perez responded in an official statement by saying the comments have been removed from their broader context, adding he intends to take legal action.
Perez resigned from the post of Real Madrid president on February 27, 2006 having come in for criticism for focusing too much on the club’s worldwide brand appeal as opposed to success on the pitch.
The conversation that has come to light came in September of that year, after Ramon Calderon had succeeded him as president.
Raul, the club’s all-time record appearance maker, is now coach of the club’s reserve team
Keeper Casillas, lifting the Champions League trophy in 2014, is one of the club’s most decorated player and made 725 appearances for them
About Casillas, the Spanish goalkeeper who played 725 matches for the club, Perez is reported to have said: ‘He is not a goalkeeper for Real Madrid. He is not and he never has been. It has been the great failure we have had.
‘What happens is that they [the fans] adore him, they love him, they talk to him. I don’t know why they defend him so much.
‘Well, it’s one of the great frauds, the second is Raul. The two great Real Madrid frauds are Raul first and Casillas second.’
Perez then elaborates on his criticism of Spanish striker Raul, who scored 323 goals in 741 matches for the club. He is Real’s second-highest goalscorer of all-time and their highest appearance maker.
‘Raul is bad, he believes that Madrid is his and uses everything that is in Madrid for his own benefit,’ Perez said.
‘He is a negative figure, he is destroying Madrid and the morale of the players so that they say: ‘It is Madrid that is bad, not Raul.’ It is terrible how bad the boy is.’
Raul has been manager of Real Madrid Castilla for two years having formerly coaches the under-15 side.
The leaked tape, published by a Spanish website, is further embarrassment for Perez, 74, following the collapse of his European Super League project earlier this year
The revelation comes at a time when Perez is under fire for his prominent role in efforts to establish a European Super League earlier this year in direct competition to UEFA’s Champions League.
At the beginning of July, a Spanish court ordered UEFA to cancel all legal sanctions imposed on Real, Barcelona and Juventus, the three clubs of the original 12 participants who didn’t formally disavow themselves of the Super League project.
The trio have still been admitted into the Champions League in the season ahead despite UEFA threatening to exclude them from their competitions as a punishment.
The statement issued by Perez in response read: ‘Given the news broadcast in El Confidencial, in which phrases attributed to me are reported, I think it is necessary to clarify:
‘The reproduced phrases are pronounced in conversations clandestinely recorded by Mr. Jose Antonio Abellan, who has been trying to sell them for many years without success.
‘It is surprising now that, despite the time that has elapsed, the newspaper El Confidencial reports them today .
‘They are single phrases of conversations taken from the broad context in which they occur.
‘For them to be reproduced now, after so many years have passed since those conversations took place, is I understand due to my participation as one of the promoters of the Super League.
‘I have put the matter in the hands of my lawyers who are studying the possible actions to take.’