Madrid - Ramon Calderon's short and stormy reign as president of crisis club Real Madrid came to an end on Friday over the latest affair involving unqualified delegates at a club assembly.

Calderon was yet to confirm the move but it seems that he was left with no option but to resign after being abandoned by his directors at a stormy midday board meeting.

Calderon, 57, was under massive pressure to quit since Tuesday, when Marca revealed that he had sneaked unqualified delegates into the club's annual general assembly on 7 December, in order to have his proposed budget and other measures passed.

Calderon sacked the two employees he claims are responsible for the crisis, but one of them told the media that he had been acting under the president's instructions.

On Wednesday, Calderon claimed that it would be "cowardly" to resign, but he has now apparently been forced to do so by his own board.

Calderon's reign was short and stormy, even by Real Madrid's recent standards.

He emerged triumphant in the elections of July 2006 by a narrow margin of 246 votes, after all of the postal votes had been cancelled on the orders of a local judge.

Calderon's victory was contested in the courts by several losing candidates.

He has been under constant fire by the media for failing to sign any big-name stars, in stark contrast to predecessor Florentino Perez, who will probably be a candidate in the upcoming elections in May or June, until which vice-president Vicente Boluda will take over as interim president.

Calderon promised to sign Kaka, Cesc Fabregas and Arjen Robben, but has only managed to bring in the latter.

He has also been criticized for his failure to sign FIFA World Player of the Year Cristiano Ronaldo, despite all his promises to do so.

On the positive side, Calderon has presided over the rejuvenation of a squad which had aged alarmingly during the final years of the Perez presidency (2000 to 2006).

His controversial sporting director Pedja Mijatovic has moved on more than 20 players and has brought in around the same quantity, at great expense.

"Galactico" veterans like David Beckham, Ronaldo and Roberto Carlos have been replaced with more workman-like players such as Fabio Cannavaro, Ruud Van Nistelrooy, Wesley Sneijder, Fernando Gago and Gonzalo Higuain.

The Calderon-Mijatovic duo earned some legitimacy and popularity when Van Nistelrooy and company sneaked the 2007 Liga title on the last day, on the Spanish direct results system over Barcelona.

They then raised eyebrows by replacing coach Fabio Capello with Bernd Schuster, but were rewarded with another league title, this time in more impressive circumstances.

Schuster, however, made a stuttering start this season, was sacked five weeks ago and replaced by Juande Ramos.

Then came the chaotic episode of Mijatovic signing Klaas Jan Huntelaar and Lassana Diarra in the current transfer window, even though only one of the two can be registered for the knockout stages of the Champions League.

New coach Ramos has made a solid start, but will now have to work against a background of confusion and uncertainty, as caretaker Boluda tries to clean up the club's image and organize the elections. (dpa)