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MON 31 MAY 2021 | PRESIDENTS
Javier Tebas and European Leagues: “All clubs are important, from the smallest to the largest”
Javier Tebas and European Leagues: “All clubs are important, from the smallest to the largest”
  • The LaLiga President warned that while the current breakaway league project is dead, the ideology behind it remains.
  • Speaking at the European Leagues Club Advisory Platform he called for meritocracy, financial control, autonomy and respect in European football.

The breakaway league project may have been quickly rejected by leagues, clubs and fan groups, but Javier Tebas has issued a warning that clubs across domestic leagues must unite to prevent attacks on football’s meritocracy returning.

The LaLiga President (and representative of European Leagues on the UEFA Executive Committee) was speaking at European Leagues’ Club Advisory Platform (CAP), which brought together more than 300 professional clubs from 32 competitions to discuss the next steps for football across the continent.

Tebas discussed the flaws of the ideology behind the breakaway league in detail and the need for the industry to remain true to core principles.

“The first principle that is in danger is that of meritocracy,” he said. “It is the first key element of European football and we can never put that in danger. The ability to dream is essential for fans and clubs. Closed leagues do not work. All clubs, from the small to the big, have a right to success and we can’t lose that.”

“Second, our principle of autonomy can’t be eliminated, nor can the principle of one club, one vote,” he added. “We can’t move towards something that isn’t one vote for each club, to something that is instead based on bank balance, assets or incomes that a club has.”

Controlling finances

With the current proposals for a breakaway competition effectively over, Tebas is focused on challenging the ideology behind the plans, particularly when it comes to financial management.

“This isn’t just a competition format,” he continued. “It is an ideological concept that started 20 years ago with the creation of the G14. That way of thinking is still alive.”

One of the core assumptions that must be rejected, Tebas added, is that only the biggest clubs create revenue and that problems can be fixed by changing the formats of competitions to increase income. “This is not true,” Tebas stated. “We all contribute, from the smallest clubs to the largest clubs, to making this industry and our competitions grow. All [the breakaway clubs] wanted to do is destroy the value that has been created over many years by all of us to take it for themselves.”

These sentiments were echoed during the CAP by Patricia Rodríguez, member of the Granada CF board of directors, who added: "The key is to control costs. The desire and need for increased income from some clubs will be infinite, so we must be firmer in the control measures that we establish at European level.”

Respecting national leagues

Another key theme from the CAP was that clubs and leagues should be able to decide their own structures as a collective. Tebas summed up this sentiment, saying: “National leagues have had autonomy for decades, to decide how many teams are in our competitions, what formats are best and how to organise the competitions. Now this is in danger.”

Speakers throughout the CAP called for equal weight to be given to all clubs and competitions when deciding on football’s future, regardless of their size. “The fact [the breakaway league clubs] have won many titles doesn’t mean they’re smarter than all the other clubs of Europe,” Tebas insisted. “The fact they have higher revenues doesn’t mean they’re smarter than or know more than the rest of us.”

Tebas went on to attack some of the terms used in the various press releases that have been sent by the breakaway league organisers and rejected the warnings that these materials were sharing. “We can’t let them fool us with language like ‘we’ll consult with relevant stakeholders’ as consultation won’t do it for us,” he said. “They said ‘we must reform football or watch its downfall’. These club directors can’t give us lessons about modernising football.”

He concluded: “We’re not stupid. It angers me when we see a press release as if those in charge of European Leagues or those in charge of domestic leagues are naïve. For some club owners, modernising means stripping the domestic leagues of assets for the benefit of the very few.”

The backing of UEFA

UEFA president Aleksander Čeferin also made an appearance at the Club Advisory Platform, underlining that clubs of all sizes are vital to football’s ecosystem.

“All leagues, clubs and fans are equally important to holding the pyramid together as the smallest stone of the pyramid is no less important than the biggest,” Čeferin added. “The big clubs do not become big in isolation. They needed their domestic leagues and to play all clubs to become victorious and establish their fame. This is the irony of the failed endeavour of the breakaway league. They believed they had to knock out the podium on which they stand.”

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