“If Barça is relegated, nothing happens, they will return the following year, the damage we have is reputational”
The president of LaLiga also exposed ‘The defense of the European football ecosystem’
MADRID, March 16 (EUROPA PRESS) –
The president of LaLiga, Javier Tebas, insisted this Thursday on the damage to the “reputation” of FC Barcelona due to the ‘Negreira case’ that is transferred to all of Spanish football, so it is necessary to have “explanations” about these as soon as possible alleged payments to the former vice president of the arbitrators.
“Barça has not paid referees, but there has been a situation that needs an explanation, the payments to Negreira. Let’s imagine that it was not prescribed, what would the institutions have to do. Nothing, no. The regulations would be harsh. I don’t want to speculate, could lead to expulsion from the League,” he said.
Thebes participated this Thursday in ‘Foros de Vanguardia’ to expose ‘The defense of the European football ecosystem’ and, in addition, discussed the complicated situation that Barça and Spanish football are going through. “I do not question the sextet, but I analyze that special conduct that if it had not prescribed would be very serious in the sports field. In Europe there is no prescription and UEFA has a special issue in its statutes, which can intervene in national affairs”, he claimed.
The president of the employers’ association asked for seriousness, not like the one shown by Gerard Piqué in recent statements in which he defended Barça because “buying a referee” is “easy” without the plot under investigation. Instead, Thebes defended the attitude of LaLiga which, as in other cases such as Osasuna or Huesca, appears in the prosecution to demand that what happened be clarified.
“Piqué seems to know how referees are bought. You have to be careful. I don’t think FC Barcelona buys referees. It gives the feeling that we are talking about trying to influence. Let’s think that in every group there is always some exception, otherwise we would be in the sky all. It is not about that titles have been won for buying referees”, he pointed out.
“We cannot differentiate between Alcorcón and FC Barcelona, because it is a very big club. If it goes down, nothing happens, it will return the following year, the damage we have is reputational, LaLiga cannot look the other way. We have to be active, The best way to clean up your reputation is to be clear with the facts as soon as possible. Hopefully explanations will be given as soon as possible,” he said.
“The damage to the reputation of Barça and the League is tremendous. This situation is very sad, but hiding is not the solution. You cannot go as victims. I remember when Villar, I had to give a lot of explanations around the world. We saved ourselves a lot because I had denounced Villar before. It is the moment of greatest reputational crisis in the history of Spanish football”, he insisted.
On the other hand, Tebas confessed that he does not understand the “role of Estrada Fernández”, who filed a lawsuit against Enríquez Negreira and his son, for seeing “precipitation”. “It doesn’t worry me, that he does what he wants and that when he is in the VAR he interprets the hands well,” he said.
The president of LaLiga continued with Barça issues with the financial problems of the Barça club. “There is no mania neither for Barça nor for any club. I do not speak with the economic control department. Barça has a solution, that comes with a treasury plan, of how it is going to solve next year”, he stated.
In addition, Thebes referred to the controversies with the VAR, asking for “the one from the first season”, with “much less intervention”, and assured that “racism could be put an end to” on soccer fields. “We have put more means. We have tools to drive out these animals. In 24 hours we have 12 videos of each stadium,” he said.
‘DEFENDING THE ECOSYSTEM OF EUROPEAN FOOTBALL’
The intervention of the president of LaLiga began with a presentation in which he spoke of the dangers of the Super League and the crisis that the English Premier League is going through due to an unsustainable system. “The Super League is not just a concept of sports competition, it is a football management model that the most active clubs want to manage European football,” he said.
“It is an ideological model. Control everything. It is as if the countries were governed by the banks. The success model for 1,500 European clubs is vertical, by categories, and the European competitions, horizontal, built over 30 years. A success model that has created an industry, with its flaws, which has them,” he added.
Tebas pointed out the failure to transfer “the vertical model of the leagues, with promotions and relegations, to the horizontal model of Europe.” “If the Super League model only played during the week, we would lose 50.3% of our total income, but the clubs that go to the Super League do not. If in the end they also play on weekends, 54% of the rights would be lost. Another impact on the clubs, public limited companies, would no longer be worth the same,” he said.
The president of LaLiga showed in his presentation the growth that Real Madrid and Barça would have to the detriment of the rest of the clubs, which would keep half of their income. “Imagine what the Spanish League would be like,” he pointed out, at the time that he wielded the surveillance of the governments, which “advocate for a sustainable model.”
Thebes referred to the recent ‘White Paper’ of the British Government for “insufficient self-regulation” and a management of the Premier that is not sustainable. “The Government decides to intervene and regulate for a sustainable future, because many English clubs operate in an unsustainable way,” she recounted, before assessing the new Sports Law in Spain.
“The Sports Law allows LaLiga to self-regulate thanks to effective Economic Control, it constitutes effective financial control instruments for the clubs,” he said. “The Premier has a negative net balance of 1,200 million, which implies that there are contributions from the owners, constantly putting money in,” he said.
“They have gotten into a policy of unlimited spending, of losses, and we cannot allow these models in Europe,” he added, recalling the “complaints for breach of financial ‘Fair Play'” that LaLiga has made in recent years, against the PSG, Juventus and Manchester City, who have been “proving them right”.
However, the president of LaLiga acknowledged that the Super League will not give up regardless of what the European High Court of Luxembourg decides. “Florentino never loses. He is very tenacious, he continues, he fights, he continues, and if he loses it seems that he has won. You have to explain it, whatever happens, he will continue trying,” he settled.