The Sports Buff ⚽️ ⚾️ 🏈

Politics is a dirty game; football is included in that

Mainstream politics and politics in football have one thing in common above all else: both can involve overpromising and underdelivering. To put it into context, just look at the very recently concluded Real Madrid elections.

The process is very similar to mainstream politics, with candidates on the ballot and promises if they get into power. This wasn’t different many years ago when Barcelona made a then fresh-faced Joan Laporta their president.

One of his pledges was to sign a disgruntled David Beckham from Man United. That didn’t materialise, but the way my young self remembers the tale is that Mr Laporta was still appointed.

Florentino Perez, in his first spell, did a similar trick at Barca’s arch-rivals Real. Perez pledged that he would sign Luis Figo; to be fair to the now 79-year-old, he did honour that pledge. If he didn’t, he would apparently have had to pay for the members’ season tickets.

Florentino Perez helped oversee the famed Galactico era, which saw many of the world’s best talent at Real Madrid. Ronaldo Nazario, Kaka, Zidane, and a prime David Beckham were just some of the stellar names to wind up at the Santiago Bernabeu.

So, to be fair to Mr Perez, he has honoured pledges over his tenure. After two trophyless seasons, Florentino is a man in the firing line. How did he look to put the fire out?

Call an election and pledge that he was going to sign a £150 million player, which appeared to be in direct retaliation against election rival Enrique Riquelme, a 37-year-old businessman, who claimed he was going to lure Erling Haaland, Rodri and Jurgen Klopp as boss.

My issue with this is that it’s something that all the UK parties would do. Make fanciful claims, just to get into Number 10, and when it comes to it, not be able to honour it, as they haven’t thought it through.

Nick Clegg with University fees. The then Lib Dem leader would ferociously back pedal after making a pledge to voters when they were in coalition with the conservatives.

Enrique Riquelme, from outside looking in, would have had to do the same.

The claim of signing Haaland has seen Man City come out and said they were seeking legal advice after Mr Riquelme’s claim.

Florentino Perez has won the election, but the process of these glorified promises, it’s what I call dirty business.