Madrid (AFP)

LaLiga president Javier Tebas reaffirmed that the possible European Superleague will be "a ruin for football", and urged FIFA president Gianni Infantino to "clarify his position" on this project, in an interview to AFP and The Sun.

Q: Where is the European Superleague project?

Who is behind this project?

A: "It's always a very clandestine proposal, the only news we have comes to us through the press, except when the (ex-) president of FC Barcelona (Josep Maria Bartomeu) spoke about it , and that the president of Real Madrid (Florentino Perez) insinuated something during the assembly of representatives of the socios (supporters-shareholders). Who is behind this project? I do not like to mention the clubs, let alone Real Madrid, but there is the president of Real (Florentino Perez), then the owner of Manchester United and also that of Liverpool, and in Italy, AC Milan, with Ivan Gazidis. This is the information we have. They have to doing something wrong because they are doing everything in a hidden way. When people do things right, they talk about it. "

Q: Who else?

Articles claimed in October that Fifa supported the project, but it emerged from the ambiguity last week by clearly opposing it ...

A: "You have to make a difference between Fifa as an institution and Gianni Infantino. When Fifa publicly mentioned this project as an institution, they announced that they were against it. But I believe that Gianni Infantino, as president of this institution, must clarify his position on this project. Indeed, he participated in meetings, he worked and encouraged the fact that the Superleague is done. In the documentation that we have of the Superleague, it appears a mention "w01", which is clearly a code name for Mr. Infantino. I believe he urgently needs to clarify his position, publicly, personally, and say why he attended a few meetings and why he encouraged the project at certain times ".

Q: What do you mean by "encourage"?

A: "He is not against. He thought the project was good. (In the Superleague documents), dates are preserved for the Club World Cup, so dear to Infantino."

Q: This is a serious allegation ...

A: "If he tells him publicly that it is wrong and he can prove it, I will apologize. If he rules out that possibility forever, we will start to believe him. Me, at least for now, j 'have doubts.

Q: Are you worried that this Superleague project is cannibalizing the football industry in Europe?

A: "The rights holders will earn a little more in the short term, but in the medium term it will be a ruin for football and for them. This project is of interest to those clubs with American owners or who have models of closed leagues, because today hui the only ones who win are the clubs which are limited companies (SASP in France). But that would destroy the balance of the ecosystem of European football. The Superleague project will kill the current Champions League. This is what that they are looking for, in order to then distribute everything that the Champions League generates.

Q: What would the losses be for the championships?

A: "We did a study two years ago, when they wanted to reform the Champions League. For a league like the Spanish Liga, with all the industry it generates, the loss of income would be around 1, 6 billion euros, and the value of clubs would drop by 1.8 billion euros. And the 14 clubs that would not be part of this competition could lose around 3 billion euros ".

Q: When is this Superleague project going to be officially launched?

A: "According to the documents I have, it will be announced in February. They want to finalize the sale of the broadcasting rights in March, and launch in 2022. They can project things on paper and think about it, but these time projections are wrong. We must not forget that these clubs participate in the competitions of UEFA, which has sold its broadcasting rights until 2024 ".

Q: Is the Superleague inevitable?

A: "As long as I'm in charge of LaLiga, that won't happen. That's my opinion. What is important is the clubs, and in Spain 18 clubs are against this project. In Germany, 18 are Against also. In England I believe that they are 16 opposed to this project. We cannot go against the structural model of European football. Among other things, because it would be entering into a war with all the institutions of world football ".

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