Madrid – Florentino Perez announced on Thursday his desire to be president of Real Madrid again.

Perez, 62, told a news conference that “it is time to officially announce my decision to be a candidate in the Real Madrid elections.”

He said that he regretted having resigned as president in 2006, after an initially successful but later error-strewn six-year reign.

“I should not have left (in February 2006) before having established the stability which Real Madrid needs…What has motivated me (to be a candidate again) is the difficult situation of the club.”

Perez referred to the controversial presidency of Ramon Calderon by saying that “the last three years have been damaging for Real Madrid…For us, the way that things are done is almost as important as the sporting triumphs.”

Calderon, who won the elections in 2006, was forced to resign in January 2009 after revelations that he sneaked false delegates into the club’s annual general assembly in December.

Perez is the clear favourite to win the upcoming elections, which are scheduled for July 5, according to online opinion polls.

When asked whether former Real stars Jorge Valdano and Zinedine Zidane would form part of his candidature, Perez replied that “they correspond to the image which I which to give, and it will not be difficult for them to be with me in my team.”

He refused to answer questions about star players that he would like to sign, were he to win the elections. (dpa)