Rafael Nadal set to take a seat on Real Madrid’s board
· BehindLines newsroom
Real Madrid said on 4 November that it is proposing Rafael Nadal as a member of its board. The retired tennis player has accepted, but his appointment still has to be ratified by the club’s members.
According to Al Jazeera, relaying a Reuters report, the board decided on Tuesday to put the appointment to the general assembly of delegate members, and the club issued a statement on Wednesday. The outlet El Imparcial says the vote is scheduled for 21 November 2026 and that Nadal cannot formally join before then. The club has counted him as an honorary member since 2011, under number 67,778, the same outlet says.
Nadal, who retired in November 2024, is credited with 22 Grand Slam singles titles, 92 singles titles in all, two Olympic gold medals and five Davis Cup wins with Spain. On X, according to El Imparcial, he said he accepted "with great enthusiasm, a desire to learn and to contribute all I can".
The backdrop is a club that has just held its first contested presidential election in twenty years. According to Reuters, Florentino Pérez, 79, won a new four-year term in June against Enrique Riquelme, who took more than a third of members’ votes. Nadal has played down talk of a succession; El Imparcial notes that he said in 2023 he would one day like to lead the club and denied links to the race in May 2026.
His precise duties, the length of his term and whether the assembly will approve the appointment are not known.
According to El Imparcial, he would sit as an ordinary board member, not as a coach, sporting adviser or transfer official.