Former Barcelona president and current vice president of the Spanish Football Federation, Joan Gaspert, says Florentino Pérez “is a zero as a president”. Gaspert remembered the signing of Luis Figo from Barcelona in the summer of 2000. “There are three aspects to Florentino Pérez,” said Gaspart. “As a human, he’s a great person. As a businessman, he’s one of a kind. But as the Real Madrid president, he’s a zero. I don’t like the way he goes about things. He is not my cup of tea as president of Madrid but on the other hand he has won me over as a person and a businessman.”
“Florentino did me and my team a lot of harm with the signing of Figo,” he continued. “It did a lot of damage the way it happened. But in the end what remains is a person, and as a person he is a great human being,” the former Barça president told Cadena Copa’s ‘El Partido de las 12’.
With regards to the future of Pérez, Gaspart thinks he will be at Madrid “as many years as he wants to be”. “There will come a time when he understands that he has to give way to another person,” he added. “That also depends on the members. The members may be convinced that I called him a zero because of Figo leaving to Madrid.”
Gaspart was also asked about the departure of Iker Casillas from Madrid and he regretted that the captain could not leave the club in a dignified manner. “People do things differently and that has to be respected,” he said. “Xavi had a great farewell while Iker had a more low-key departure sadly. I would have liked to see him say goodbye in front of the fans but some of the fans did not behave well towards Iker near the end of his time there.”
Finally, Gaspart also made mention of the penalty imposed by UEFA for the pro-independence flags at the Champions League final, as well as the whistles for the national anthem in the Copa del Rey final. “The sanctions seem out of line,” he said. “I was sat behind the king (in the Copa del Rey final). I didn’t whistle and listened to the anthem with respect but I also respect the opinion of others to do what they think is right.”