Image Repair Strategies in Public Relations Crisis: A Case Study of Real Madrid’s Response Strategies to the Bernabeu Leaked Audio Scandal

Abstract

In July 2021, Real Madrid president Florentino Pérez was in the midst of a controversial leaked audio crisis in which he heavily criticized some historical icons of the team, such as Iker Casillas, Raúl González, Cristiano Ronaldo, and Luís Figo. The leaked audio clips by El Confidencial newspaper and secretly recorded ages ago by José Antonio Abellán ignited a firestorm of criticism that threatened Pérez’s reputation and integrity. Pérez offered an official statement to repair his damaged image. This article analyzes and evaluates his image repair messages, which relied heavily on reducing offensiveness. It seems that his defense helped to dispel the cloud surrounding him, as Figo accepted Pérez’s apology and adopted his point of view that the comments were taken out of context. Pérez succeeded in minimizing the event to the extent that the media shrank their discussion. He attempted to create new beliefs about El Confidencial and Abellán by attacking the accuser by undermining their credibility and honesty to diminish the attack. By employing the transcendence strategy, he tried to place the leaked audio clips issue in a broad context in a different frame of reference – the European Super League debate. Using transcendence and attacking the accuser helped Real Madrid frame the crisis in a way that backfired on the accuser. The findings of this study have significant implications for understanding how leaders at the helm of power of top sports clubs might communicate during a crisis and underscores the potential importance of image repair in sports organizations.