Tebas has worked hard to stabilise finances in Spanish football, with rules that were agreed in collaboration with clubs helping to ensure that the playing field remains somewhat level. Real Madrid and Barcelona will always be special cases in La Liga. That approach has not been mirrored around the world.
FFP does not sit alongside PSR, with teams in the Premier League having to abide by those regulations, but some clubs are considered to have found ways of bending the rules. Tebas sees City sitting in that category, with there 115 charges hanging over the Etihad Stadium as Pep Guardiola’s side wait on a final ruling that could deliver any number of punishments.
City are backed by billionaire owner Sheikh Mansour, allowing them to spend heavily, while Ligue 1 giants PSG have the support of Qatar Sports Investments behind them. Tebas has taken aim at those who boast the deepest pockets.
He said at a conference organised by Expansion and PKF Attest: “Football is global, and in these European competitions, you have to face clubs that have a different system. Either they don’t have financial control, or it’s different. But in England, they’re already worried about the level of debt in English football. It’s a competition that constantly goes into losses. You can lose one, two, or three years, but not four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, or 10 like Manchester City, who have been losing money and cheating since Manchester City came into existence with their new owners… or PSG, who have had losses of €200 million for seven consecutive years . But we compete, the results are there. We’re 30 European titles ahead of the Premier League this century.”
Tebas added on trying to compete with the Premier League and Bundesliga when it comes to generating revenue: “We’re in a good place, but we have some significant shortcomings. We need to address these shortcomings to generate more revenue and be competitive. There’s also an issue in the world of matchday and ticketing. We have a deficit of around €600 million each season compared to the Premier League and Bundesliga. The biggest gap is in VIP boxes or special experiences. Spanish stadiums have 4.3% of VIP boxes, Bundesliga stadiums have 9%, and Premier League stadiums have 11.5% . We have to address that, and it’s one of the reasons for the CVC money. It will generate a much greater amount of revenue for all of them to be able to sign players. We have a deficit that we have to wait for the stadiums to be built. I estimate that it will be resolved in four years.”
Tebas went on to say of helping to clear much of the debt that existed in Spanish football, outside of Barcelona, as clubs operate on a more stable footing: “When centralized sales began, a temporary Financial Fair Play system was implemented. We managed to bring in an additional 500 million in one year, and that allowed us to begin implementing the debt restructuring plan and, at the same time, implementing Financial Fair Play. Because if Financial Fair Play hadn’t existed, those 500 million would have gone to the players, the Ferraris, the Porsches, the boats, and not to paying off public debt.”
