'%20x='0'%20y='0'%20height='100%25'%20width='100%25'%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20xlink%3Ahref='data:image/jpg;base64,/9j/2wBDAAYEBQYFBAYGBQYHBwYIChAKCgkJChQODwwQFxQYGBcUFhYaHSUfGhsjHBYWICwgIyYnKSopGR8tMC0oMCUoKSj/2wBDAQcHBwoIChMKChMoGhYaKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCj/wgARCAAHAAoDASIAAhEBAxEB/8QAFQABAQAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAf/xAAVAQEBAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACA//aAAwDAQACEAMQAAAAns/FP//EACAQAAEEAQQDAAAAAAAAAAAAAAMBAgQREgAFBkETIjH/2gAIAQEAAT8AlclmwBDmFgbWIDGqxRBj4+a0qldeXd6buDFaikPKz791+6//xAAWEQEBAQAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAABACH/2gAIAQIBAT8ANL//xAAVEQEBAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAABAP/aAAgBAwEBPwAL/9k='%3E%3C/image%3E%3C/svg%3E)
LaLiga president Javier Tebas has blasted Real Madrid president Florentino Perez for his attempt to start the European Super League. The Los Blancos supremo, alongside a host of elite clubs, attempted to form a breakaway European league but saw their plans thwarted by intense fan backlash.
Speaking with the press, Tebas called out his compatriot, saying (via Madrid Universal):
“The first thing, let it be very clear who is behind it. Florentino Perez. You have to show your face. Second, it is not serious that we have three formats in three years. We can’t be talking about saving football, as Perez said, and do this.”
Trending
He continued:
“It is also very unserious to present a format that does not talk about governance. Or the television model. One day everything is free, another day it’s hybrid, another day I don’t know what it’s like. It looks like a circus.”
“Teams can qualify from the national leagues, but of the 16 slots, 12 belong to the five major leagues. It seems a little elitist. Then they are talking about Spain having three, but maybe it’s two. Who is going to go? The usual ones, Real Madrid and Barcelona,” Tebas added.
“If they always go to a competition that we assume will generate a lot of money, there will still be more gap in the national competitions. And the more economic gap, the less competitive it is and the more value it will lose. I’m sure it would do devastating damage. More than saving football, that mission to which Real Madrid came, seems to come to destroy it,” he concluded.
Real Madrid remain one of the most storied and successful football clubs in European football and are the reigning LaLiga and UEFA Champions League holders. They sit atop their domestic league and are through to the next stage of the Champions League, where they will face Manchester City, another European Super League plotter, on February 11.
“Spanish football does not belong to the president of LaLiga" - When Real Madrid president Florentino Perez defended his European Super League plans
In November 2023, Real Madrid president Florentino Perez defended his decision to orchestrate the European Super League alongside other elite European clubs. The decision proved controversial and was put on hold after immense fan backlash.
However, the Los Blancos supremo was confident that his planned Super League was a stepping stone in the evolution of football. Speaking at the time to the press, Perez said via (The Athletic):
“Football is suffering an unprecedented institutional crisis. At all levels, both in Spain and in Europe. The main problem is that there are a series of managers who act without thinking about the fans. And we are going to continue working so that football can once again inspire the greatest number of fans around the world."
“European football does not belong to the president of UEFA. Spanish football does not belong to the president of La Liga. Football is nobody’s monopoly, because football belongs to everybody. The aim of the Super League is very clear: to offer the best possible club competition," he added.
“We need to impose, once and for all, maximum respect for the rules of financial fair play," Perez continued. "To achieve this, we need transparent and modern corporate governance structures that are fit for the 21st century and subject to the principles and laws of the European Union.”
“UEFA continues to manage competitions in the same way as 30 years ago. Without innovation, without modernisation, without transparency, without bringing the competition closer to the fans. We have seen many examples where large corporations that seemed invincible in their sectors have gone bankrupt because they did not know how to modernise and adapt to the times," he concluded.
Real Madrid and their eternal rivals Barcelona are the only clubs left in the European Super League after the other teams involved withdrew. The other teams involved in the plot were Manchester United, Manchester City, Chelsea, Arsenal, Tottenham Hotspur, Liverpool, AC Milan, Inter Milan, Atletico Madrid, and Juventus.
