Real Madrid president Florentino Pérez announced on Tuesday he will not resign but instead called for elections to solidify his mandate.
Pérez, 79, called an emergency news conference after meeting with the club's board of directors and discussed at length what he considered to be a smear campaign against him and Real Madrid by a section of Spanish media.
"I'm sorry to say that I'm not going to resign," Pérez, who was re-elected -- unopposed -- as club president in January 2025, told the news conference.
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"I'm going to call an election. I've asked the electoral committee to begin the process of organising elections for the board of directors, of which this Board of Directors will stand as candidates.
"At Real Madrid there is no single owner; it is the 1,000 members who make up the club. I have taken this decision because an absurd situation has arisen, caused by campaigns against the interests of Real Madrid and against me. The results haven't been the best, but in sport you don't always win.
"They are exploiting the situation to attack me personally. They ask, 'Where is Florentino?' when I don't usually speak out. Some have told me I have terminal cancer ... I'd like to take this opportunity to let the people who have been concerned about me know that I'm still presiding over Real Madrid and my company, that my health is perfect; I couldn't be in both places if my health weren't perfect.
"If I had cancer, as has been said, I'd have to go to a cancer centre; if I did go, wouldn't it have been all over the news worldwide?"
Madrid lost 2-0 at Barcelona on Sunday as the Catalan outfit was crowned LaLiga champions. Los Blancos have now gone two seasons without winning a major trophy for the first time in 20 years, and Álvaro Arbeloa was hired as coach mid-season after the sacking of predecessor Xabi Alonso.
"I'm the first to admit that I want to win everything," Pérez said. "Under my presidency, we've won 37 football titles and 29 basketball titles. I want to talk about all those who are campaigning behind the scenes.
"I invite anyone who wants to stand for election to do so. I'm standing to defend the interests of Real Madrid's members. They won't intimidate me. It gives me a lot of energy."
Pérez said he will take "an important dossier" to UEFA about the payments of millions of euros that Barcelona made to a company that belonged to José María Enríquez Negreira, the former vice president of Spanish soccer's refereeing committee.
Barcelona has consistently denied any wrongdoing or conflict of interest, saying it paid for technical reports on referees but never tried to influence their decisions in games. Negreira has also denied any wrongdoing.
"Three years ago, we learned about a corruption case known as the Negreira Case," Pérez said. "There are no precedents in the history of world soccer. It is the biggest scandal in history and a case that remains unresolved and ongoing.
"We are compiling an important dossier that we will immediately present to UEFA so they can address it at its root and resolve it for the good of world soccer."
The construction magnate and former politician has served as Madrid president in two spells, from 2000-2006, and since 2009.
Madrid have had a turbulent season also off the pitch.
Before the Clásico against Barcelona, it emerged that Federico Valverde and Aurélien Tchouaméni had a bust-up in training and in the locker room, which was leaked to the media.
Each player was fined €500,000 by the club following the incident.
"I'm not going to talk about coaches or players," Pérez said. "It's not the first time that players have hit each other since I've been here but it has been the first time that it has been leaked."
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.