Real Madrid's Perez demands reformation in "sick" European competition

president

Florentino Perez

was the leader of a faction that competed against UEFA and identified alternative replacements and was also elected president of the

Super League

. Due to the political pressure on the club, their weak alliance broke down and five Premier League clubs announced their withdrawal from the Super League project, to which Real Madrid,

, and

stayed loyal.

UEFA tried to ban Real Madrid from the Champions League, but they did not succeed as Madrid faced Inter, Paris Saint-Germain, Chelsea, Manchester City, and Liverpool to win last season's Champions League.

Perez said at

on Sunday: "

To fix a problem, you have to first recognize that you have a problem. Our sport is sick. It is losing its leadership as a global sport.

"We mustn't be confused by the impact of Real Madrid's European Cup run when we were involved in seven games of the highest intensity and interest.

"That was the result of the draw, and of the quality and greatness of our team. It was a spectacle that helped bring excitement back to the viewers.

"That's why we believe European competitions must change, to offer fans top-level games year-round between the strongest teams, with the best players competing."

Perez elaborated on the concept of allowing Europe's elite to play one another more often, mentioning tennis as an example where

has regularly faced Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic.

"In tennis, Nadal and Federer have played 40 times in 15 years. Nadal and Djokovic have played 59 matches in 16 years,"

Perez added

..

"In football, we've only played Liverpool nine times in 67 years. We've played Chelsea four times in the history of the European Cup. What sense does it make to deprive fans of all these games?"

Real Madrid was ranked 13th on

' ranking of the world's 50 most valuable sports teams, behind several American teams.

"We were top in all sports, and now we've fallen to 13th,"

he said

. "We've been overtaken by 12 clubs from American sports. They must be doing something very well in the United States and very badly in Europe.

"Football is losing the global entertainment battle against other sports and other platforms.

"We need a professional, modern, transparent management, not based on old structures designed in the last century.

"Recently the chairman of the European Clubs' Association [Paris Saint-Germain president Nasser Al-Khelaifi] said – talking about the Super League – that Real Madrid are afraid of the competition. Maybe the president of the ECA has to be reminded who Real Madrid are. Competition is in our DNA."

Follow 

 for the