La Liga may not be going the way of Italy, which has ruled out punishing clubs involved in the European Super League, but it isn’t sanctioning them immediately either. The clubs may have betrayed everybody in football, said La Liga president Javier Tebas, but “let’s not rush in. Everyone wants to cut people’s heads off. Most important, the clubs have been sanctioned by their fans.”
Tebas was speaking at a virtual media conference on Thursday where he was repeatedly probed by journalists from all over the world whether Real Madrid and Barcelona would be punished for being part of the breakaway 20-team league.
Instead Tebas called on Europe’s top clubs to prune expenses. “Instead of three or four Ferraris, they can have one Ferrari,” said Villarreal’s president Fernando Roig who had joined the call along with heads of Sevilla, Real Betis, Valencia and Levante. Roig said it is understandable that salaries of Real and Barcelona players would be two or three times of what players are paid in some clubs, but “it cannot be 14 times higher.” The salaries of some players are outrageous, said Real Betis’ president Angel Haro. Lionel Messi’s wages at Barcelona are said to be around €565,000 a week.
Though Tebas said the idea of a breakaway league has “dissolved like a lump of sugar” because German clubs and English clubs would never be in such a competition, dismissing the claim of its founding chairman and Real president Florentino Perez that it is on hold, he called for Fifa to take a firm stand. “I would like him to more clearly state what he thinks about all this,” said Tebas referring to Fifa president Gianni Infantino.
Tebas said the Super League had claimed Infantino was supporting them but that “lie” has now been nailed. Speaking at a UEFA congress, Infantino had said: If some elect to go their own way then they must live with the consequences of their choice, they are responsible for their choice. Concretely this means, either you are in, or you are out. You cannot be half in and half out. This has to be absolutely clear.”
But Tebas said: “The role of Infantino does concern me. I’ve been saying this a long time. “(Uefa president Aleksander) Ceferin believes Infantino more than I do. I really doubt Infantino.”
Levante president Francisco Catalan said that apart from the proposed league destroying a defined business model, the principle of solidarity and reducing income for other clubs, the proposed league would take away the right to dream for clubs like his. “Our club is an ambassador for Seville in Europe and we have earned that prestige on the pitch,” said Sevilla president Jose Castro. This proposal has damaged football, said Valencia president Anil Murthy.
They were reacting to the plan of the breakaway league to have permanent slots for 15 of its founder teams with five being chosen on sporting merit. That meant the permanent members wouldn’t have to contest the domestic league for a spot in Europe thereby devaluing that competition.
On Perez’s claim that this league would be good for football, Tebas said: “Then they wouldn’t have done it behind our backs.”
Tebas also disputed Perez’s comments about huge losses and said they need to be put in context. “You can’t view the year of the pandemic in isolation. It is true that large clubs have large infrastructure and large expenses but over the years their profits too have increased. I would like the Real Madrid president to do some real accurate analysis,” he said.
According to a report by Deloitte Football Money League the 12 clubs involved in the super league had lost between €50 million (AC Milan) to €118 million (Manchester United) in revenue in 2020 when games were forced behind closed doors due to Covid-19. Most of these clubs have huge wage bills with Barcelona’s said to be at nearly €271 million annually. According to reports, the super league would give the top six clubs of the 15 founding members €350 million annually. The league projected €4billion would be earned annually from broadcast rights alone. “Football does not have so much money in broadcast,” said Tebas.
Earlier on Thursday, speaking to Catalan state television, Barcelona president Joan Laporta had said: “The biggest clubs create the most financial resources and we must have our say in deciding how the earnings are shared.”
Tebas also said he wasn’t sure if Real and Barcelona would play the Champions League next season “because if they do, they have to accept certain issues (terms). All clubs have to sign certain documents by May if I am not mistaken.”