What was Javier Tebas’ agenda?

Iltalehti received an exclusive interview with Javier Tebas.

Javier Tebas is one of Europe’s most important football referees.

The 60-year-old lawyer is not only the president of Spain’s La Liga, but also the leader of the European Leagues, the common interest organization of 40 soccer leagues.

That’s why it’s a little surprising that Tebas’ staff received an offer that he would be willing to give an exclusive interview to Iltalehti.

Some dog is buried here.

– The Super League did a lot of damage to the ecosystem of European football. It’s not just a form of competition to try to sell it to us. That’s where the richest clubs want to decide the fate of the sport, Tebas starts his sermon a couple of weeks later.

He has been planted in front of a web camera in Madrid. The speech continues seamlessly, and there is no need for further questions.

– The Super League has changed its strategy. It is now trying to make you believe that it is they who are saving the club football. The big clubs imagine that they are at the center of European football. Yes, that’s something to worry about.

Supporter of UEFA

In the Super League, intimidation is an interesting choice, because the changes in the law made in Britain today prevent the release of the clubs of the island powers. In practice, no Super League would be very super if giants like Manchester City, Chelsea or Liverpool were not involved.

Tebas himself has confessed to being a fan of Real Madrid. Right from the start, however, it becomes clear that he cannot stand the current Madrid president by Florentino Pérez way to lead a team.

The idea of ​​a Superliga has been tormented in the management ladder of Real Madrid, Barcelona and the Turin giant Juventus. Right now, that seems unlikely to happen.

– It cannot be implemented the way they want. It would destroy all national competitions from La Liga to Veikkausliiga.

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Tebas underlines his words with his hands. PDO

Tebas turns out to be a staunch Uefa supporter. One theory for the surprising desire for the media is based on the fact that he would like to modify the rules of the umbrella organization to his liking.

– However, Uefa is only a tool. Of course we should change things within it: administration and increase the power of national leagues and clubs.

– I don’t mind saying that Uefa is a monopoly, as long as it has a transparent administration.

The road is long anyway. This matter should also be settled by the Palloliitto bosses first Ari Lahten or Marco Casagrande in front of their eyes, and they should understand how to push the matter forward.

– We need a redistribution of funding in European football.

Tebas throws the ball in the air, but does anyone know how to catch it?

– In addition, we have to lower the threshold to get to the Eurocups. Maybe it would make less money for the big clubs, but I wouldn’t worry because they already make enough money.

England as a threat

Tebas has given this same fiery speech to the media of other Nordic countries as well. However, he has not tailored his message very precisely to different target groups.

For example, Tebas hints that the price of the television contract for the Finnish national series could be increased.

– We have to make sure that every league has the best possible contract. I would really like to check it because I know many countries where the situation is not optimal.

However, Veikkausliiga is not as attractive as a television product as his very own La Liga, which offers El Clásicos. In Finland, too, C More uses Real Madrid and FC Barcelona matches in its marketing.

Maybe Spain could return a small part of its television pot to Veikkausliiga as a show of solidarity with Finnish payers.

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El Clásico matches between Real Madrid and Barcelona always get hundreds of millions of viewers around the world. PDO

The thought doesn’t get Teba excited.

– The Premier League’s television contract is twice as expensive as ours. Maybe the question should be asked to them, Tebas laughs.

– Of course we can sit down and think about it. But before that, it needs to be determined whether La Liga’s television contracts affect the media value of Finland’s national series.

You can see from everything that Tebas is certainly genuinely worried about the future of futs.

The financial supremacy of the Premier League casts a big shadow over La Liga too. Today, even “small” English clubs like Bournemouth or Crystal Palace are able to attract players that AC Milan or Barcelona cannot afford.

– In recent years, the gap has grown due to loss-making clubs. Their owners just offset the losses from their own pockets.

– No economic activity can continue if it constantly produces a loss. In football it is possible, but at the same time they cause enormous damage to the entire system, Tebas says, his voice already agitated.

As a solution TPO

It is difficult to stop the development. Nowadays, money also attracts young Spaniards, who apply to the academies of the British giants, even if their home country is a better option in terms of game development.

– It’s because the level of our junior players is much better than in England, Tebas answers already a little irritated.

The clearest example is Liverpool’s best player this season Stefan Bajčetić, who arrived in England aged just 16 from Celta Vigo. In Galicia, it was understood that the club cannot keep hold of the talented midfielder.

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18-year-old Stefan Bajčetić has broken into Liverpool’s starting line-up this season. PDO

Even in Finland, it is well known how teenage soccer prospects are caught in the professional leagues. For example Teemu Pukki, Pasi Rautiainen, Mikael Forsselland Casper Terho have all left the world as teenagers.

– The discussion about television rights is not significant. The solution lies in how we can keep young players longer in the national league.

And Tebas doesn’t need to be dragged into presenting his own solution.

Namely, he wants to restore the partial ownership of the contract papers, which Fifa banned in practice completely in 2015. The contract papers, known by the abbreviation TPO (third party ownership), included an investor committed to the player, who took care of the growth of his investment.

– When they were banned, the market was a complete jungle. At that time, we asked for the condition to be regulated, but it was decided to ban them completely.

Perhaps this is also the steak of the whole interview offer.

– If well regulated, they would guarantee small clubs and leagues the opportunity to keep young players longer. Through it, for example, a Finnish team could receive millions of euros for a 30 percent slice of the player’s contract.

Tebas is not necessarily completely on the map of Veikkausliiga’s transfer amounts. A 30 percent share does not really guarantee millions of euros in Finland.

However, the idea – scaled down – could work.

– If the clubs received investors’ money, they could pay better wages and keep young players longer. In addition, during that time, the player’s value would increase, so the club would receive an even higher transfer fee for him when he was eventually traded.

Of course, the investor would count on the fact that his 30 percent would also guarantee a hefty profit.

– I think that would be a workable solution.

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