Longtime fan Rafael Nadal offered role on Real Madrid's board of directors

MADRID — Tennis great and longtime fan Rafael Nadal was offered a spot on Real Madrid’s board of directors on Wednesday — adding a role at his beloved soccer club to his retirement plans after leaving the tour two years ago.

“I want to thank president Florentino Pérez and the board,” Nadal said on social media, next to a photo of him wearing a full Madrid kit as a kid. “I have accepted this proposal with great excitement, a desire to learn, and a willingness to contribute everything I can.”

Madrid, the record 15-time European champion, said its board had "agreed to submit to the general assembly of delegate members the ratification of the appointment of Rafael Nadal Parera, member number 67,778 of our club, as a new member of the board of directors.

“For Real Madrid and for all madridistas, it is an immense honor that a figure of his sporting and human stature, a reference in Spanish and global sports, joins our board of directors and contributes, from this role, to the present and future of our club,” the club added of Nadal, who won 22 Grand Slam titles and a record 14 French Open trophies.

Nadal supports Madrid even though his uncle, Miguel Ángel Nadal, played for rival Barcelona.

In an interview with The Associated Press this week, Nadal discussed fatherhood, arranging plans with his former rival Roger Federer and playing an upcoming exhibition in Las Vegas.

Nadal said he’s rarely home even in retirement because “I am traveling, I am doing stuff, I have events.”