Javier Tebas says the club never likes anything La Liga does
La Liga president Javier Tebas has defended the decision to stage Villarreal’s clash with Barcelona in the United States, but is “sad” that Real Madrid are always attacking the league in everything it does.
The contentious fixture will be played on 20 December at the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami, Florida. It is set to be the first top-flight Spanish, and indeed European, league match played outside Europe.
Proponents, including Tebas, claim the move is a necessary step toward global growth for Spanish football, but the decision has drawn criticism from across Europe.
In Spain, Real Madrid are among the clubs against it. Other sections of Spain’s football establishment, including the players’ union, have also opposed the move. Opponents want league games to remain within the country to preserve competitive integrity and tradition.
Tebas said that the story of what the league is trying to do has been twisted.
“A rather demagogic narrative is being constructed,” said Tebas. “It’s Villarreal’s own fans who want to come to Miami. It’s the clubs that want to come to Miami. It’s the players who want to come to Miami and we’re talking about one match out of 380.
“It’s about bringing our culture, our language, and our institutions to the world. We’re not putting anything at risk.”
Real Madrid have taken concrete steps to kick against La Liga’s idea. The club called on Uefa, Fifa and Spain’s Supreme Sports Council to step in and prevent it. They also released a statement warning that the “integrity of the competition” was at risk.
“The integrity of the competition demands that all matches be held under the same conditions for all teams,” the club said in a statement.
“Unilaterally modifying this regime violates equality between contenders, compromises the legitimacy of the results, and sets an unacceptable precedent which opens the door to exceptions based on interests other than strictly sporting ones, clearly affecting sporting integrity and risking the competition’s adulteration.”
However, Tebas tied the opposition to Madrid’s long contention with La Liga. One instance of it is the club’s fierce criticism of refereeing in the league.
Before last season’s Copa del Rey final against Barcelona, referee Ricardo de Burgos Bengoetxea cried in a press conference as he described the effect of Madrid’s criticism on him and his family.
In September, the club’s official media channel, Real Madrid TV, said they were planning to file a report to Fifa on the issue of refereeing.
“The dossier is going to be submitted to Fifa so that they take good note of what is happening in Spanish football with regard to refereeing,” the club’s media channel announced.
Tebas said: “It makes me sad because Real Madrid don’t like anything La Liga does. If it weren’t Miami it would be something else. We’re very bad and we don’t do anything right.
“We have to remember that 42% of our audiovisual income comes from outside Spain. We have to respect those fans who pay to watch football. Because if not, we wouldn’t have them.”
