Thursday, January 24, 2013

Pérez denies that Ramos and Casillas issued José Mourinho ultimatum


The Real Madrid president Florentino Pérez has taken the unusual step of speaking out publicly to deny hat the club's captains Sergio Ramos and Iker Casillas presented him with an ultimatum: if José Mourinho stays, we go.

Pérez refused to answer questions on Mourinho's future but described the allegation as "absolutely false".

Marca published the story on Thursday morning. The paper said that during a meal with Pérez and Madrid's director general José Ángel Sánchez, Casillas and Ramos conveyed the message on behalf of a number of players in the squad. The headline read: "In June, either Mourinho or us". The response from Madrid was immediate: a press conference called for 1pm.

Pérez, who did not name the newspaper once, appeared angry and was direct in confronting the story, accusing some in the media of seeking to destabilise the club.

"I am breaking my rule of not talk about the day to day of the club in order to say that it is absolutely false," Pérez said. "There no ultimatum nor anything or the sort. What has been said is not true. I think this is very serious and because of that seriousness I have decided to defend the club. Things [like this] have happened numerous times. This is the last time."

"I understand that someone may have as their objective to force someone [Mourinho] out of the club. We have just reached the semi-final of the Copa del Rey and it seems like someone does not like that. It is the unity of all the members and supporters of this club that has made it the best club in the world and we, and only we, will decide the future of our club."

He added: "There were four of us [at the meal]. Myself and the director general, who is here. The other two have names and faces. It's not hard to speak to them to check the story. Why has no one called us? If they had called us to check it we would have said it was false. It seems that publishing the story was more important than it being truth. I know what I am saying is hard but an ethical line has been crossed."

Pérez accepted questions but refused to talk about anything that was not this specific issue, batting away inquiries about Mourinho's future.

"I have come here solely to deny a story that is false and seeks only to destabilise an institution that is over 100 years old and is the most prestigious in the world," he insisted. "If they want to destabilise the club, they will find me standing before them."

A short time later a joint statement from Casillas and Ramos was posted on the club's official website, in which the Spain internationals rejected the claims while affirming their support for both the club and Mourinho.

The statement read: "The two captains of Real Madrid want to communicate the following:

1 That the meeting held on Tuesday with the president and CEO of the club never raised any ultimatum from us regarding the character of our coach

2 As captains of the staff and members of an excellent group of people and professionals, we categorically reject the use of our names and the rest of our squad's in support of information that is entirely false

3 We want to show our support for the character of our coach, José Mourinho, to whom we owe the greatest respect

4 Finally, we wish to convey to the members and fans of Real Madrid our unalterable conviction that only through the unity of everyone at Real Madrid will we overcome all the challenges that we face each season

"Hala Madrid [Go Madrid]."

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