Delegate members vote on 21 November, six months after Nadal denied reports he would stand for president during the club’s first election in 20 years.
Rafael Nadal will join the board of directors at Real Madrid after the club’s board agreed his appointment at a meeting on Wednesday 4 November, subject to ratification by delegate members at an assembly on 21 November.
In an official statement, the club named the 22-time Grand Slam champion as member number 67,778.
Nadal, 40, thanked club president Florentino Pérez on X, saying: “I have accepted this proposal with great enthusiasm, a desire to learn and to contribute everything I can.”
Quiero agradecer al presidente Florentino Pérez y a la Junta que me hayan propuesto formar parte de la Junta Directiva del @realmadrid.
He aceptado esta propuesta con mucha ilusión, ganas de aprender y aportar todo lo que pueda.
🤍🤍🤍 https://t.co/cFBQnUVW6j
— Rafa Nadal (@RafaelNadal) November 4, 2026
His ratification is the only item on the agenda of the club’s extraordinary general assembly, according to EFE, while the ordinary assembly held the same day will vote on the 2026/27 budget and member fees for 2027/28.
Why Nadal?
Real Madrid set out its reasoning in the statement, listing Nadal’s 92 singles titles, 22 Grand Slams, two Olympic gold medals, five Davis Cups and his time as world No.1 before saying his values “form part of the identity of Real Madrid”.
The Mallorcan has been an honorary member of the club for years and has rarely hidden where his football loyalties lie, even as a native of an island with its own LaLiga side. Marco Asensio has said Nadal helped persuade Real Madrid to sign him from Real Mallorca, which suggests the new director has some informal scouting experience already.
What Nadal will do on the board is less clear, as the statement does not set out his responsibilities or say whether he will hold a specific portfolio.
‘Why not?’ to ‘not true’ to ‘yes’
The appointment follows more than a year of questions over whether Nadal wants Pérez’s job. In a November 2025 interview with Jorge Valdano, he said he would like to be president and asked “why not?”, although he added that the timing did not suit the club because it already had the best president in place and that he saw the prospect as distant and difficult.
When Pérez called the club’s first presidential election in 20 years, Nadal moved quickly to rule himself out, posting on X on 13 May 2026 that reports linking him to a candidacy were not true. Pérez went on to beat businessman Enrique Riquelme on 7 June and will serve until 2030.
The board offers Nadal a route into the club that the presidency does not. Candidates for president must be Spanish, have at least 20 years of uninterrupted membership and provide a bank guarantee worth 15% of the club’s budget backed by personal assets, ESPN reported, whereas a board seat needs only a proposal from the board and a vote of delegate members.
Nadal: Why now?
Neither the club nor former tennis champion addressed succession on Wednesday, so whether a seat at the table puts him in line for the top job in 2030 remains open. The statement says only Nadal will contribute “to the present and future of our club”.
He arrives as the club considers how it is structured. Pérez told the November 2025 assembly Real Madrid would create a subsidiary in which members keep absolute control, a model which would allow outside investment for the first time. Riquelme, who took about 35% of the vote in June, said after the result that members must stay at the centre of everything.
Nadal retired from professional tennis in November 2024 after Spain’s Davis Cup quarter-final defeat to the Netherlands and has since expanded business interests across hotels and his tennis academy.
In April 2026 he also became a shareholder in Málaga marina developer Ocean Platform Marinas.
