SOCCER
"Had Barça accepted the money, Messi would have stayed" - Tebas after LaLiga Impulso deal approved
The $2.7bn LaLiga Impulso deal has been approved without Barcelona and Real Madrid, who could now lose out on a combined €500m due to their opposition to the plan.
LaLiga has approved a new agreement with investment firm CVC, which will see clubs share an enormous cash injection of $2.7bn, without the consent of its two biggest members Real Madrid and Barcelona.
The so-called LaLiga Impulso (Boost LaLiga) project was approved at the Assembly of First and Second Division clubs on Thursday, with 38 of the 42 clubs voting in favour of the plan.
Real Madrid and Barcelona, who have publicly voiced their opposition to the agreement, were among the four clubs to vote against the project, as were Atlético Madrid and a fourth club that has not yet been named.
The $2.7bn cash injection comes in the form of a loan that must be paid back over a 40-year period. In exchange, CVC will receive an 11% share of revenues from LaLiga’s non-audiovisual-related business and a 10.95% share of revenues from the audiovisual-related business over the next 50 years.
Asked about Real Madrid and Barcelona’s opposition to the plan, LaLiga chief Javier Tebas said: “Less money will be delivered to those that said ‘no’ [to the agreement]. Madrid and Barcelona’s position has to do with the Super League and that is why the agreement doesn’t interest [Real Madrid president] Florentino Perez.”
Tebas on Barcelona and Messi
The fact that the LaLiga Impulso deal comes just days after Barcelona were unable to register Lionel Messi due to their financial struggles is, of course, significant. And LaLiga chief Javier Tebas was quick to point to the club’s opposition to the agreement as the reason why they were forced to let Messi go to Paris Saint Germain.
“If Barça had accepted the money, Messi would have stayed,” claimed Tebas, while also playing down the impact of Messi’s departure from the Spanish league.
“We have sold the international rights for the next four years and there is no clause that if Messi leaves they will change. It’s the same case for the contract with ESPN. These players matter and are helpful, but they are not essential.”
"Great players are going to continue signing and coming to LaLiga,” he later added.
Tebas: "Agreement will prosper" without Real Madrid
Discussing Real Madrid’s opposition, Tebas claimed the club “has been hindering agreements for eight years over the issue of audiovisual rights”.
“I would have liked them to be there, but we are not going to cry and the agreement will prosper [without them],” he added.
Madrid have already announced that they plan to take legal action against Tebas over the CVC deal.
Real Madrid and Barcelona could lose out on €500m
On account of the opposing clubs, CVC has proposed a new plan which would mean that those clubs would not have to give up a share of their generated audiovisual revenues if they are against doing so.
That would, of course, mean that they would not be entitled to their share of the $2.7bn investment from CVC, which would equate to a combined €500 million for Real Madrid and Barcelona.