The main instigator of the aborted European Super League project two and a half years ago along with 11 other European clubs, Real Madrid has still not given up on this fad. If the project had long been criticized for its financial motivations and its ethics in conflict with the values of solidarity and merit, Florentino Pérez had the time to think about this project to remedy this. Present during the general assembly of Real Madrid this Saturday, the emblematic president of the club reiterated his intention to give substance to this project, recalling his meritocratic vision of the clubs which would participate in it.
“Football is going through an unprecedented institutional crisis. The situation is very serious. Either we react now or football will not survive, first alerted the Madrid president. European football does not belong to UEFA. The Super League is more necessary than ever. The objective is to offer the best football and it is the clubs which must control their destiny. There are more and more clubs losing millions of euros every year. But it will be a meritocratic competition“, he insisted.
UEFA takes it for its rank
If the recent exits of Aleksander Čeferin and Florentino Pérez had led us to believe that relations between Real Madrid and UEFA had gone from cold to polar, we now have certainty. During this assembly, the Madrid president also strongly criticized the new Champions League format which will come into force in 2025. As a reminder, a mini-championship of 36 teams in which each club will play 8 matches will replace the traditional format. The major challenge: raising prices.
“The new UEFA format is an unusual and completely absurd project. This model will further alienate fans from our sport, especially the youngest. It is a system serving the interests of its managers. The needs of players, fans and footballers are not taken into account. They are putting an end to European football, not innovating, not facing the threat of other growing sports and other leisure offerings.he cursed.
An ambition to make football accessible to all
During his speech, Florentino Pérez also recalled his intention to make football cheaper, at a time when the price of subscriptions has become a discriminating factor. “Real Madrid has a responsibility in European football. We have an obligation to offer the supporters the best possible show. We also want to make access to televised football cheaper and we are offering it an increasingly poor spectacle. It makes no sense to have to pay 10% of the minimum wage to have access to football. The Super League was designed to solve all these problems. TV rights are also a subject that Pérez addressed more fully, pointing out the responsibility of broadcasters, particularly in Spain. He believes that clubs should have a greater say in what can be broadcast or not.
“TV rights belong to the clubs and are transferred to LaLiga for everything that happens just 2 minutes before the match. Clubs can use the rest of the content, pre-match, post-match, and what happens in the locker room. But LaLiga wants to expropriate everything from us and also appropriate the remaining content. We are forced to repeatedly go to court to defend our heritage. » Pérez finally targeted the sulphurous president of La Liga, Javier Tebas: “The president of LaLiga abused his authority in relation to CVC and dismissed us, demonstrating that not all clubs were treated in the same way.” It’s Florentino Pérez against the world.
