March 1 – Controversial La Liga boss Javier Tebas has reignited his attack on backers of the proposed revamped breakaway European Super League (ESL), claiming the A22 Management organisation is attempting to deceive fans by promising to show matches for free.
The European Court of Justice ruled in December that UEFA and FIFA were wrong to block plans for the breakaway league and A22 promptly proposed a new format featuring 64 European teams.
However, Tebas says the new proposal is even worse.
“We have to be very clear – the man behind this is the president of Real Madrid,” he said at the Financial Times Business of Football Summit in London referring to Florentino Perez, who was behind the original Super League proposals.
“A22 want a few clubs, with the most assets, the richest clubs – to dominate the European football eco-system. This model is even worse than the 2019 model. We said ‘no’ to that and we say ‘no’ to this one.”
Tebas claimed that the economics of financing a major competition, said to have a prize pot of up to €5 billion, does not add up without any media rights fees
Likening A22 boss Bernd Reichart to magician David Copperfield, Tebas added sarcastically: “Bernd Copperfield says there will be free streaming of the matches but people who understand the broadcasting world know it’s not possible.”
“He even said it wouldn’t be totally free, it would be a hybrid system. They cannot get these €5 billion just from advertising. Free streaming is like pulling a rabbit out of a hat.”
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