Rafael Nadal in line to join Real Madrid board of directors

Real Madrid are preparing to welcome a champion from another sport into their boardroom, with the club announcing that Rafael Nadal's appointment as a director will be put to members for ratification.

The board agreed at a meeting on Tuesday to submit the appointment of the 22-time tennis Grand Slam winner to the General Assembly of Delegated Members. Nadal, who retired from professional tennis in November 2024, is already an honorary member of the Spanish football giants.

"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," the club said in a statement on Wednesday.

In its announcement, the club pointed to Nadal's extraordinary record on court, which includes 92 singles titles, two Olympic gold medals, five Davis Cup triumphs with Spain and a spell as the world number one.

Beyond the silverware, Real said Nadal's personal qualities, among them humility, respect for opponents and a commitment to charity, reflected the values the club considers its own. "All these values form part of Real Madrid's identity, and Rafael Nadal has embodied and championed them throughout his sporting career," the statement said.

Nadal publicly 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."

The Mallorca-born star has long been talked about as a potential successor to Perez, though he has played down that prospect in the past.

Perez, 79, secured another four-year term as president in June following the club's first contested presidential election in two decades. In that vote, more than a third of voting members backed challenger Enrique Riquelme, who campaigned against plans to bring outside investment into the member-owned club.

If ratified by the assembly, Nadal's move into the boardroom would mark a new chapter in his relationship with the club he has supported throughout his life, just under two years after he brought his decorated tennis career to an end.