Tennis great Rafael Nadal set to join Real Madrid board

Real Madrid are set to add a champion from another sporting arena to their boardroom as 22-time tennis Grand Slam winner Rafael Nadal’s appointment as a director is to be put to members for ratification, the club says.

The board agreed to submit the appointment to the General Assembly of Delegated Members. Nadal is already an honorary member of the club.

“It is a source of immense pride for Real Madrid and for all our supporters that a figure of his sporting and personal stature … is to join our Board of Directors,” Real said in a statement on Wednesday.

The club highlighted Nadal’s sporting achievements, including 92 singles titles, two Olympic gold medals, five Davis Cup triumphs with Spain and the world number one ranking.

The club said his qualities beyond those honours – including humility, respect for opponents and commitment to charity – mirrored the club’s own.

“All these values form part of Real Madrid’s identity, and Rafael Nadal has embodied and championed them throughout his sporting career,” said the statement announcing his appointment at a board meeting on Tuesday.

Nadal welcomed the invitation.

“I would like to thank President Florentino Perez and the Board for inviting me to join the Board of Directors of Real Madrid,” he wrote on social media.

“I have accepted this invitation with great enthusiasm, keen to learn and to contribute as much as I can.”

Nadal, who retired from tennis in November 2024, has long been touted as a potential successor to Perez, although he has played down the prospect.

Perez, 79, secured another four-year term in June after Real’s first contested presidential election in two decades.

More than a third of voting members backed challenger Enrique Riquelme, who opposed plans to bring outside investment into the member-owned club.