Real Madrid President Perez say ‘Casillas and Raul are frauds’ in leaked audio

Real Madrid president Florentino Perez can be heard referring to former players Iker Casillas and Raul as “great frauds” in a leaked audio clip.

After graduating from the club’s academy, Casillas and Raul spent a combined total of 43 years at the club, becoming legends.

They have a combined total of seven La Liga titles.

Raul left the Bernabeu in 2010, moving to Schalke after scoring over 300 goals for the Spanish giants, while Casillas was forced to leave the club after more than 700 appearances.

Perez lambasted the two club legends in secret audio from a 2006 conversation, which has just surfaced.

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Perez resigned from his first term as president six months earlier, after allegations that he had focused too heavily on brand appeal rather than footballing achievement.

“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,” Perez said about Casillas according to El Confidencial.

“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 turned his anger towards Raul, who he blamed for “destroying” the club, blaming him for his departure as president.

“[Zinedine] Zidane’s a great guy. And [David] Beckham and Ronaldo. … But then there are the others that think that … let’s see. Raul is a bad person,” Perez said.

“He thinks Madrid is his and he uses everything there is in Madrid, developing everything for his own benefit. Him and his agent. They are to blame for Madrid not doing well.

“Look, I left, among other reasons, because of him. He is a negative guy, he is destroying Madrid.”

Perez has now retaliated against the audio recording’s publisher, saying that the recording was only released to tarnish him in the wake of the European Super League scandal.

“Given the news broadcast in El Confidencial, in which phrases attributed to me are reported, I think it is necessary to clarify,” the statement read.

“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.”

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