MY ACCOUNT
Real Madrid president Florentino Perez warned UEFA must remember who his side are amid continued European Super League and Financial Fair Play disputes.
Madrid were one of the 12 founding clubs of the doomed Super League last April, with nine of the sides involved quickly withdrawing their intention to feature amid a furious and widespread backlash.
The nine clubs who pulled out, including six Premier League teams, were welcomed back to the European Club Association (ECA) but UEFA opened proceedings against Madrid, Barcelona and Juventus before later declaring them “null and void”.
While Perez and Juventus’ Andrea Agnelli argued the breakaway format would be the saviour of football, UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin claimed the trio attempted to “kill football”.
But Madrid’s chief Perez is still refusing to give up hope on the Super League as he insisted the LaLiga outfit would not back down from threats, nor intentionally harm domestic leagues with the new competition.
“It is not just a new competition, it is much more, it is trying to change the dynamics of football,” Perez said at Madrid’s Ordinary General Assembly on Saturday.
“It is also freedom, so that the clubs are masters of their destiny [with Financial Fair Play] and it is the project that will finally make it happen.”
“The Super League is the project that will avoid situations in which clubs get indiscriminate support. It would only develop if it’s compatible with the domestic leagues.
“It’s time to remind UEFA who Real Madrid is. Real Madrid created FIFA along with seven federations, then created the Champions League in 1955 along with L’Equipe.”
Madrid do not just have problems with European football’s governing body either, Los Blancos – along with Barcelona and Athletic Bilbao – are also challenging LaLiga’s private equity investment deal with CVC Capital Partners.
LaLiga and CVC signed a deal, originally ratified by 38 of the 42 sides in Spain’s top two divisions, meaning the latter would receive 11 per cent of the revenue from television rights over the next 50 years in exchange for an investment into the league.
The Spanish trio – after Oviedo changed their stance – announced in September they would contest the agreement, while Madrid confirmed they would launch civil and criminal lawsuits against LaLiga president Javier Tebas and CVC chief Javier de Jaime Guijarro over the proposed deal.
“It does not make sense and is very profitable for the rest of the clubs,” Perez added.
“I never imagined that I would be told by the press that they were going to take away our rights, the league being a mere marketer according to the law.
“It is an operation full of very serious irregularities and would have damaged our heritage.
“The fund is the same one that has tried to do the same in Germany and Italy where they failed. They approached several clubs in distress – it’s absurd to even consider accepting that CVC deal.”
