Riquelme pledges 20,000-seat Alfredo Di Stéfano upgrade in Real Madrid bid

Enrique Riquelme has promised to expand the Alfredo Di Stéfano Stadium to 20,000 seats if he wins Real Madrid’s presidential election, making women’s and reserve-team infrastructure a headline policy in a rare contested vote.Real Madrid’s members will choose their next president on June 7, with Florentino Pérez facing an opponent in an election for the first time since 2006.Riquelme’s stadium pledge targets the 5,967-capacity venue used by Real Madrid Femenino and Real Madrid Castilla, with the upgrade intended to lift matchday revenues and improve the club’s pathway for women’s football.Riquelme said: “It’s the biggest transformation for and by the members in Real Madrid’s history.“It’s a project that, for the first time, considers the club’s owners, not privatisation or selling the club.“It’s a project by and for its members and a place for community.“With our project, Real Madrid, if I am president, will once again belong to its members. Real Madrid is global, but the club belongs to the members.”He has also proposed staging women’s matches at the Santiago Bernabéu, a move designed to raise visibility and accelerate commercial growth for the women’s programme through premium matchday inventory and higher-profile fixtures.The Alfredo Di Stéfano expansion would sit inside a broader “Member City” project at Valdebebas, aimed at turning the training-ground campus into a year-round destination for members.Plans include a members-only social club, a hotel, and a new 15,000-seat basketball arena capable of hosting games and concerts, adding a second major venue asset to the club’s infrastructure portfolio.Riquelme’s proposal also includes a large outdoor plaza with a giant screen for match viewing, plus a clubhouse, aquatic centre, an auditorium, and extensive sports facilities including multiple pitches and courts.The wider commercial play is to create more controllable, monetisable assets beyond the Bernabéu, with Valdebebas positioned as an additional platform for hospitality, events, member services and partner activations.Riquelme has paired the infrastructure pitch with membership reforms, pledging to cut membership fees by 50% and introduce a lottery mechanism for 10,000 season tickets to reduce long waiting lists.He has criticised a proposal associated with the current leadership to create a subsidiary structure that could allow outside investors to buy a minority stake, positioning his bid as a defence of member control.The election has become a referendum on how Real Madrid balance member ownership with capital-intensive venue development, with Riquelme arguing that new facilities should strengthen the club’s community roots while expanding its revenue base.