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Lorenzo Sanz, Who Led Comeback of Real Madrid, Dies at 76 Lorenzo Sanz, Who Led Comeback of Real Madrid, Dies at 76
(1 day later)
Lorenzo Sanz, the former president of Real Madrid who helped return the Spanish soccer club to victory in Europe’s top competition after more than three decades, died on Saturday in Madrid. He was 76. Lorenzo Sanz, who, as its president, helped return the Spanish soccer club Real Madrid to victory in Europe’s top competition after more than three decades, died on Saturday in Madrid. He was 76.
The cause was the coronavirus, his family said. His family said he died after contracting the coronavirus.
Mr. Sanz entered a Madrid hospital on Tuesday with a fever. He tested positive for the virus and also had kidney failure, according to local news media reports. The Madrid region has been the epicenter of the coronavirus in Spain, accounting for about 60 percent of the 1,750 people who have died from the outbreak across the country. Mr. Sanz had tested positive for the virus after entering a Madrid hospital on Tuesday with a fever. He also had kidney failure, according to local news media reports.
Mr. Sanz was president of Real Madrid from 1995 to 2000 and is credited with ending the club’s 32-year wait for another victory in what is now the European Champions League, which Real Madrid won in 1998 by beating Juventus in the final in Amsterdam. Two years later, Real Madrid won the competition again, beating Valencia in Paris. His son Fernando said that Mr. Sanz had tried to fight the fever at home for eight days before going to the hospital because he did not want to burden an already strained Spanish health-care system.
He is the most prominent person in Spain to have died from the coronavirus. Spain is second only to Italy as the European country worst hit by the pandemic, and the Madrid region has been the epicenter of it in Spain, accounting for about 60 percent of the 1,750 people who have died from the outbreak there.
Mr. Sanz, who was president of Real Madrid from 1995 to 2000, is credited with ending the club’s 32-year wait for another victory in what is now the European Champions League, which Real Madrid won in 1998 by beating Juventus in the final in Amsterdam. Two years later, Real Madrid won the competition again, beating Valencia in Paris.
The team also won one league title, a Spanish Super Cup and an Intercontinental Cup under Mr. Sanz.The team also won one league title, a Spanish Super Cup and an Intercontinental Cup under Mr. Sanz.
In 2000, Mr. Sanz narrowly lost an election battle and was replaced as the club’s president by Florentino Pérez, a construction tycoon who still leads the club. In 2000, he narrowly lost an election battle and was replaced as the club’s president by Florentino Pérez, a construction tycoon who still leads the club.
In a message released by the club, Mr. Pérez lamented the loss of Mr. Sanz, as well as the fact that Spain’s lockdown to fight the coronavirus made it impossible for anybody to pay Mr. Sanz proper homage for the time being. In a message released by the club, Mr. Pérez said that Mr. Sanz would be remembered by Real Madrid’s fans as “the president who brought us back hope and joy” in 1998. By winning the European competition again only two years later, he added, “Real Madrid got back the place that belonged to it in history.”
In reference to the 1998 European victory, Mr. Pérez said that Mr. Sanz would be remembered by Real Madrid’s fans as “the president who brought us back hope and joy.” By winning the European competition again only two years later, he added, “Real Madrid got back the place that belonged to it in history.” Lorenzo Sanz was born in Madrid on Aug. 9, 1943, and played soccer as a youth, as a goalkeeper. He became a successful businessman, mainly by buying real estate around Madrid.
Born on Aug. 9, 1943, in Madrid, Mr. Sanz played soccer in his youth as a goalkeeper and became a successful businessman, mainly by buying real estate around Madrid. In 1985, he was appointed a director of Real Madrid. A decade later, he took over a heavily indebted club from the president who had invited him to join the board, Ramón Mendoza. He was appointed a director of Real Madrid in 1985 and took over the club, heavily in debt at the time, a decade later, succeeding Ramón Mendoza, who had invited him to join the board.
During his five years as president, Real Madrid swapped coaches several times (the 1998 Champions League was won by Jupp Heynckes while that of 2000 was under Vicente del Bosque) and also reshuffled the squad significantly. Mr. Sanz also made some ambitious deals for players, including what was at the time the club’s record purchase of the French forward Nicolas Anelka from Arsenal in 1999, for about $34 million. Under Mr. Sanz, Real Madrid revamped its squad and changed coaches several times; the Champions League was won under Jupp Heynckes in 1998 and under Vicente del Bosque in 2000. He also made some ambitious deals for players, like the purchase of the French forward Nicolas Anelka from Arsenal in 1999 for about $34 million, a club record.
After the team won the Champions League in 2000, Mr. Sanz decided to hold an early election, but the move backfired. He was defeated by Mr. Pérez by just over 3,000 votes among the club’s 100,000 members, who pay an annual fee and hold the right to elect the club’s president. After the team won the Champions League in 2000, Mr. Sanz decided to hold an early election by the club’s 100,000 or so members, who pay an annual fee and hold the right to elect the president. But the move backfired: He was defeated by Mr. Pérez by just over 3,000 votes.
He then tried unsuccessfully twice to regain the presidency, also failing in a bid to take over Parma, the Italian club that had been plunged into crisis by Parmalat, the dairy company that collapsed in one of Italy’s biggest fraud scandals. He tried to regain the presidency twice, unsuccessfully. He also failed in a bid to take over Parma, the Italian club that had been plunged into crisis by Parmalat, the dairy company that collapsed in one of Italy’s biggest fraud scandals.
Instead, in 2006, Mr. Sanz bought the Spanish club of Málaga, which he then sold four years later to a member of Qatar’s ruling family. Instead, in 2006, Mr. Sanz bought the Spanish club of Málaga, which he sold four years later to a member of Qatar’s ruling family.
In recent years, Mr. Sanz ran into legal problems linked to his business deals and tax payments. In 2018, he was sentenced by a Madrid provincial court to three years in prison and a fine of 1.2 million euros for tax evasion. But his appeal dragged on and he did not go to jail. In recent years, Mr. Sanz ran into legal problems linked to his business deals and tax payments. In 2018, he was sentenced by a Madrid provincial court to three years in prison and a fine of 1.2 million euros for tax evasion. But his appeal dragged on, and he did not go to jail.
Mr. Sanz is the most prominent person to have died from the coronavirus in Spain, which has been the European country worst hit after Italy. In an interview this week with the Cope radio station, his son Fernando said that his father had tried to battle the fever at home for eight days, before finally going to hospital, because he didn’t want to burden a Spanish health system already strained by the number of coronavirus patients. In addition to his son Fernando, Mr. Sanz is survived by his wife, Mari Luz; two other sons, Lorenzo and Francisco; and two daughters, Diana and Malula, who is married to a former Spanish soccer star, Míchel Salgado.
In addition to his son Fernando, Mr. Sanz is survived by his wife, Mari Luz; his other sons Lorenzo and Francisco, and his daughters Diana and Malula, who is married to a former Spanish soccer star, Míchel Salgado.