MADRID - REAL Madrid president Ramon Calderon stepped down on Friday following allegations that he rigged voting at the club's last annual general assembly, which approved its financial accounts, Spanish media reported.

The 57-year-old lawyer, whose four-year mandate was set to expire in 2010, will be temporarily replaced by the defending Spanish champion's vice-president Vicente Boluda Fos until fresh elections are held in June, the reports said.

Contacted by AFP, a club spokesman would only say that Real's management board had met and Calderon would give a news conference at 6pm (1am Singapore time).

Calderon has been under pressure since sports daily Marca alleged on Tuesday that he stacked a Dec 7 annual general assembly with fake delegates to get the club's annual accounts for 2008 and its budget for 2009 approved by a slim margin.

He fired two club officials over the affair on Wednesday but he rejected calls at that time that he step down, saying he had done nothing wrong.

'Quitting is for cowards. Leaving would not fix anything, it would leave a void and force the club to call elections,' he told a news conference.

Calderon has fallen out of favour with many Real supporters due to his failure to fulfill promises to bring Manchester United's Portuguese winger Cristiano Ronaldo and AC Milan's Brazilian playmaker Kaka to the Spanish giants.

The crisis over the general assembly comes as Real has started to close the gap with its arch rivals Barcelona since Juande Ramos was made coach in December and are preparing to face Liverpool in the Champions League knockout stages in February and March.

While the defending Spanish champions are in second place, they still trail the Catalan side in the Spanish league by 12 points.

Real face Osasuna at home on Sunday in the Spanish league.

Real Madrid were the world's largest revenue-generating club for the third successive season in the 2006/07 season, according to an annual ranking compiled by business advisory firm Deloitte.

The reigning Spanish champions overtook Manchester United as the biggest football club by revenue in the 2004/05 season after a policy of signing big names like David Beckham and Luis Figo led to a surge in sales of replica shirts and other items. -- AFP