The chief of the Spanish top flight has called for UEFA to punish state-owned clubs while adding that he wants a redistriburion of wealth
La Liga president Javier Tebas says financial “doping” is a major problem in football today as he subtly took aim at Manchester City and Paris Saint-Germain‘s spending structure.
City and PSG are both owned by wealthy Middle Eastern companies and the injection of funds from above has seen both clubs enjoy a great deal of domestic success in recent years.
However, Tebas believes that both outfits are harming the game while calling for a redistribution of wealth among clubs.
“One of the major issues in European football is related to [financial] doping. Because when we have clubs being financed by states, then that has an impact on salaries,” he said at the launch of LaLiga TV.
“That means in other countries with more strict economic controls like Spain and Germany clubs cannot actually ask the state for extra financing to pay those salaries.
“Organisations and institutions have a responsibility to redistribute the wealth that we generate. All of us, the Spanish league, the Premier League, UEFA, FIFA. I don’t think we are helping football in any way if we generate wealth and it just goes straight back to the big clubs.
“In the end instead of having 12 Ferraris, they have 15. We’re dealing with major clubs generating a huge amount of money. So our aim is to redistribute that wealth.”
Since City were taken over by the Abu Dhabi United Group in 2008, they have won four Premier League titles, two FA Cups, four League Cups and three Community Shields.
PSG have enjoyed similar success, too, since Qatar Sports Investments acquired the club in 2011, claiming six Ligue 1 titles, four Coupes de France and five Coupes de la Ligue.
Both clubs have signed a plethora of marquee players, allowing them to challenge and often usurp established clubs at the top in their respective countries.
However, neither has been able to find success in Europe, failing to win the Champions League despite the quality of their squads.
Tebas additionally fired criticism at the idea of an expanded Club World Cup, with the competition set to expand to 24 teams for next summer’s tournament in China.
“Having been re-elected, I am very critical of the Club World Cup,” Tebas says. “An organisation like FIFA is supposed to be a regulatory body. They draft the different calendars and when we need to play.
‘Sadly, from organising World Cups, they are now talking about Club World Cups and having that every two years. That is not an option because it would change the status quo. This can’t happen.
“A few weeks ago FIFA was talking about how much would be paid if they went to China. They have been talking about redistribution of revenue but haven’t discussed the impact this would have in different countries.
“Let’s imagine the two teams from Argentina [who will take part in the Club World Cup]. It’s 40 or 50m from a tournament such as this. This would have an impact on the Argentinian Super League. They haven’t looked at the consequences of these tournaments.”
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