Why PSG could and Barça couldn't
FC Barcelona president, Joan Laporta has placed blame on LaLiga President, Javier Tebas for Leo Messi's departure, citing the league’s economic controls as the reason, but it seems to me that he has fallen short. In his own presentation last Friday, when he clearly referenced the economic situation, we were made to understand that Tebas could no longer turn a blind eye. I say continue because I fear that for Barça to come to this, pandemic aside – there has been a pandemic for everyone – at some point LaLiga had to bite it’s tongue. Yet as we now know, after a summer without big sales or pay cuts, signing Messi was impossible. We will now wait to see if it is possible to register the four newcomers.
The CVC was the Solution NOT the Problem
Financial control has been vital for our football. Until Tebas, we had a few summers which we are already forgetting, full of news of unpaid players, threats of strike, or the outright relegation of clubs to a lower category. Some clubs disappeared and were then re-founded with a similar name, or in some cases not even that. They seem like things from a very distant time, but they are from the day before yesterday. The sudden hardships that many are suffering now are due to the pandemic and to solve them the ‘CVC project’ was created. Laporta could have grabbed onto this to save Messi, but at the last minute he preferred to align himself with Real Madrid President, Florentino Perez who himself has been very critical of the plan since their initial meeting.
PSG weaken Madrid & Barça
So just like that, Messi left and it's frustrating that Barça can't have him and PSG can along with Neymar, Mbappé, Sergio Ramos, Donnarumma, Ahcraf and all the joyous fans. The way in which UEFA President, Aleksander Ceferin ignores the financial ‘fair play’ guidelines is shameful and allows several ‘state owned clubs’, or those with ‘petromillionaires’ behind them, to make a mockery of this matter. In the end this weakens Madrid and Barça who find therein a decisive argument to justify their rebellious position before UEFA. Ceferin needs to address this issue if he at any time feels the desire to reintegrate, by degree and not by force, Madrid and Barça into the system.