Spain’s football league accused the sport’s governors Thursday of holding the lucrative Liga to ransom by threatening to cancel the season’s last matches in a high-stakes row over TV rights.
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The Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) threatened to indefinitely “suspend competitions of all categories starting from May 16” and urged the government to renegotiate a new broadcasting deal.
Announcing that move late Wednesday, it complained the deal would unfairly distribute revenue from broadcast rights.
Government and league officials accused the RFEF and its head Angel Maria Villar of blackmailing them to try to squeeze more money out of the deal.
“Angel Maria Villar is irresponsible and cheeky,” the Spanish Professional Football League’s president Javier Tebas told reporters. “He treats football like his own private estate.”
Tebas said the league was appealing to the state Higher Sports Council and would take action over the potential economic damage.
“The damage is terrible and substantial,” he said. “All the way over in China people have expressed their concern about the consequences this could have for our sponsors.”
A gathering of La Liga footballers… The AFE news conference over Spanish football suspension about to get underway pic.twitter.com/WE1ZrncWpR
— Daniel Williams (@Danielclearcut) May 7, 2015
Sports minister Jose Ignacio Wert said TV deals generated 800 million euros in Spain in 2013-2014, compared to 1.8 billion euros in the Premier League in England.
The federation said in a statement it was fighting to protect the revenues of small football clubs. It complained it had not been properly consulted about the new deal.
“If our proposals had been listened to, they would have yielded benefits and improvements for Spanish football,” it said.
The federation said it was unhappy over the reduction of revenue from betting streams and the redistribution of revenues under the deal.
“The government is using private money from football… for activities outside of football,” it alleged.
Tebas retorted that the deal was “generous and clearly benefits amateur football. Anyone who doubts that must be wearing a blindfold”.
But now the ugly side of sport. Now I’ve got to write a story explaining why a bunch of childish, petty bureaucrats are suspending La Liga.
— Andy West (@andywest01) May 6, 2015
He called on the government to stand firm on its reform.
“If there has to be a strike, let there be one… but if the government gives in to this irresponsible blackmail, we will be taking a step back in the regeneration of Spanish football.”
The stoppage would affect the key May 17 title clash between Barcelona and Atletico Madrid, as well as the concluding weekend of the league.
The Spanish Cup final, set for May 30 between Barcelona and Athletic Bilbao, would also be scrapped. It remained unclear how likely the stoppage was to go ahead.
Tebas said the federation had no authority to cancel top league matches. The federation said it was “open to dialogue with the Spanish government”.
The new TV deal aimed to loosen the financial stranglehold of Barcelona and Real Madrid, the two giants of the Spanish game and two of the richest clubs in the world.
The deal, yet to be ratified by parliament, would end the tradition of clubs being allowed to negotiate their own TV deals. Instead, the rights would be auctioned just as they are in England’s multi-billion-pound Premier League, and the revenue shared out among various sectors of the sport.
The sports minister said the new deal meant a fairer distribution of finances around the league, including clubs who struggle in the shadows of Real and Barcelona.
La Liga chiefs were hoping to claim a billion euros in the new system. Earlier this week, the AFE Spanish players union also threatened a strike in protest at being excluded from the negotiations.
Tebas responded that players “should not be fooled by union leaders, who just want more money for themselves.”
