Florentino Pérez: "We cannot allow LaLiga to try to expropriate our assets"

MADRID, 11 Nov. (EUROPA PRESS) -

The president of Real Madrid, Florentino Pérez, showed this Saturday his concern about "the repeated actions of LaLiga" against the club and stated that they cannot "consent" that the organization "tries to expropriate" their economic assets as he thinks they are trying to do. by various means.

"I want to talk to you about the issue that concerns us the most and for which we have to take very forceful measures, which are the repeated actions of LaLiga against our interests, all of a seriousness that deserves all our attention and concern, and that they want to attack against the economic assets of our club, that is, against our personal assets as a member of Real Madrid," said Florentino Pérez during the Ordinary and Extraordinary General Assembly.

The leader indicated that the employers "have tried absolutely everything against the economic interests" of the club, that "it has no limits" and that it imposes economic sanctions to force them "to freely transfer rights" that are "property" of the club, although The National Court has declared them "illegal".

Pérez focused on the operation with the CVC fund, an operation designed by Javier Tebas "with the knowledge of other clubs, but behind Real Madrid's back" to snatch away "11 percent of the television rights for 50 years, which are worth thousands." of millions of euros". "They intended to take him secretly to an assembly and we found out about their plans very shortly before through the press and also thanks to honest people who also exist and who confirmed to us that an operation was being plotted behind our club's back and that The president of Real Madrid should not have found out," he remarked.

For this reason, they decided to resort to "criminal proceedings" against Tebas, the CVC fund and its manager in Spain to stop an operation that is "a disgrace for Spanish football" and that they rejected along with FC Barcelona and Athletic Club. "We firmly believe that the terms that were approved in December with CVC are illegal and that they threaten our assets even though we are not eligible for the 11 percent reduction," he reiterated.

"LaLiga's operation with CVC is a scourge for Spanish football, that is why we trust that, given its irregularities, it will be definitively annulled by the Spanish courts because only then will all Spanish clubs, especially those that are promoted in category, They will be able to free themselves from an economic burden that will penalize them for the next 50 years," the president explained.

Pérez stressed that Tebas also did "something very serious" and that he "abused his authority" by hiding this operation from them, "something inadmissible from a president of LaLiga who is owed to all the clubs equally," and assured that the leader would have complications. after having to "approve a new, different proposal", which remains "illegal".

"Those days were difficult for the president of LaLiga, so much so that in the same assembly in which he had to publicly back down from the direct exploitation of billions of euros from Real Madrid he announced retaliation against us for having opposed this project and for working in the Super League," he warned.

In addition, he referred to another "attack" against heritage with the approval of the new Sports Law. "We know that LaLiga contacted a 'lobby' to introduce amendments with the purpose of transferring to LaLiga commercial rights that are property of the clubs, or what is the same, expropriating our economic assets in favor of LaLiga," he commented. he.

"And by the way, and for the same price, grant them the power to impose personal sanctions on club presidents and even disqualify us. That is to say, they wanted to expropriate our income, ruin us, and they also wanted to disqualify us, the president of Real Madrid, among others." criticized Pérez, who thanked "the support" in this sense from the PSOE and the PP, who "unanimously decided not to support these amendments after understanding the scope of the tortuous maneuvers" of Tebas.

The businessman recalled that the law clearly establishes that the audiovisual rights belong exclusively to the clubs and that they are transferred to LaLiga solely for their joint marketing of the match and what happens in the visible areas of the playing field, since two are missing. minutes for the start of each match until one minute has passed after the end. Just that and nothing more," he pointed out.

For this reason, he made it clear that the rest, the pre-match and post-match, among other things, "is not expressly reserved for joint marketing and this has been resolved by the National Court with crystal clarity in various resolutions against LaLiga." "They are rights that have a very important value in the economic assets of the club, so we are once again faced with a new attempt to expropriate our individual rights. Even the CSD has warned the president of LaLiga of the manifest illegality of this maneuver ", he stated.

Pérez also complained that "until now" they have been "denied access to LaLiga's accounting." "LaLiga should not hide what each of the clubs pays bilaterally for specific actions and all this should be public and auditable by all clubs," he stressed. "We firmly believe that you should not have these bilateral relations with the clubs, but if you cross that border it will always have to be with lights and stenographers," he asserted.

Furthermore, he explained that LaLiga "is spending a lot more every time, starting with the president's own annual salary" and that in recent months they have accumulated "multiple rulings on matters of great importance" that have proven them right against the employers.

"To assume the seriousness of the threats to which we are exposed, the repeated expropriation attempts that we have suffered by LaLiga and the lack of capacity that we members have to protect the economic assets of the club, which is ours, make us rethink providing ourselves with the appropriate corporate structure to confront these attacks and protect our assets. LaLiga's constant attacks are of such magnitude that we cannot and should not live like this because what is clearly clear is that it is trying to expropriate our assets. We cannot consent that they take it away from us because our present and our future depend on it," he said.

The president of Real Madrid knows that his entity "is an exciting romantic football idea, but it is also the most important sports institution in the world", so he will continue "working in the coming months to bring here an organizational structure" that can protect them " as never before". "We are going to design and create the necessary strength mechanisms so that Real Madrid remains one of its partners and resists strongly against hostile maneuvers."

Furthermore, during his speech, Pérez hopes that in the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF), to which he did not want to dedicate "many words because it is in a process of regeneration", there will be "a new leadership" that will bring about the return " its transparency, reputation and prestige".

In any case, he recalled that "multiple issues directly depend on the RFEF, such as the quality of the refereeing and the application of the VAR, which is now questioned by the management and use of those responsible." "For example, no one knows very well who draws the VAR lines and how they draw them," he added.

"I trust that the Government will act and take the necessary measures to regenerate once and for all the structures of the refereeing establishment. This is more urgent than ever for the good of our football, because the credibility of our competitions is very deteriorated and one lives of its most difficult moments," he said.