Florentino Pérez does not understand the resistance to the European Super League. The Real Madrid president is also the top sports director of the much-discussed league, emphasizing that every tier in football benefits from its introduction. Pérez points out that the elite in global football have lost billions and emphasizes that UEFA is not transparent. “Nobody understands their new model and they say they want to start in 2024. In 2024 we will be dead ”, Pérez sighed in the night from Monday to Tuesday in the popular television program El Chiringuito.
“Nobody has invented anything. The main clubs of England, Spain and Italy are looking for a solution to a very bad situation in football. The largest clubs in Europe have lost a total of five billion euros, ”Pérez, who was a guest on the television program for no less than an hour and a half, referred to the corona pandemic. “Real Madrid had expected eight hundred million euros in turnover last year and we ended up at seven hundred million euros. And this year, instead of nine hundred million euros, we hope for six hundred million euros. That is four hundred million euros in two years, only at Real Madrid. If you don’t have more income than television, then you need to make sure you have more attractive matches that everyone in the world can watch. We came to the conclusion that with a Super League we could compensate for the lost income. ”
“Football has to develop, just like companies and individuals. Football has to adapt to the times in which we live. Football is losing its appeal, you notice that in the viewing figures and television rights. Something had to be done. We are all ruined, ”continued the president of Real Madrid and the Super League. “Football is a global sport and these twelve clubs, and a few more, have fans all over the world. The television has to change in order for us to adapt. Young people are no longer interested in football. Why not? Quality is lacking in certain competitions. They have other ways to enjoy themselves. With every change there are always people who resist. What is so attractive about this competition? Matches between top clubs, the league, more income. I am not the owner of Real Madrid, this is a football club and we do this because football is currently in a critical situation. ”
“A Barcelona – Manchester United is much more interesting than a Manchester United match against a more modest club in the Champions League. What do people worldwide want? We have fans all over the world. They provide income. And that income is for everyone. This is a pyramid. If the top layer has money … But not if there is no income. One of the main reasons for creating this league is that we want to save football, in general. We want to implement this as soon as possible. We sit down with UEFA and FIFA. I don’t know why they get so angry. UEFA was working on a new model that, firstly, I understood little about, and secondly, it did not provide the necessary income to save football. And I mean saving everyone. We just want to make sure that football is saved for the next 20 years. That everyone doesn’t have to worry. The situation is dramatic. ”
“Footballers are threatened,” Pérez referred to possible sanctions for participating in the Super League. “The footballers don’t have to worry, that’s not going to happen. But UEFA must be transparent, they do not have a good image and they must want to enter into a dialogue. They shouldn’t come up with threats. Nobody understands their new model and they say they want to start in 2024. We will be dead in 2024 ”, the Spaniard emphasized. “There are clubs that lose hundreds of millions. UEFA has not been transparent. It is over. UEFA’s monopoly is over. Everyone believes that football will go bankrupt in the current way. We will not be kicked out of the Champions League. I am absolutely convinced of that. And not from LaLiga either, absolutely not. Why should the Super League be worse? When clubs get stronger, the Premier League, for example, also gets stronger. Everyone. The better the games, the more interesting. The Champions League is only interesting from the quarter finals. Matches against modest clubs are not attractive enough. ”
Pérez did not have a good word for the statements of Aleksander Ceferin, who was especially critical of Juventus president Andrea Agnelli. “A UEFA president cannot insult. Like at the address of Agnelli. I find it unimaginable. UEFA must change. We don’t want a chairman who insults. We want transparency. This cannot be tolerated in a democratic Europe. UEFA must recognize that the world has changed. That a lot has changed in ten years. There are new generations and we have to respond to them. Because otherwise… If we continue with the Champions League in this way, there will be less and less interest. The new model from 2024 is really absurd. Matches between major clubs generate more money. I don’t think four billion people worldwide watch a match between two unknown clubs. ” Barcelona and Atlético Madrid also participate in the Super League. “Whether it took me a lot of effort to convince Joan Laporta? Absolutely not. It was a conversation between two responsible persons. That can only go one way. Barcelona’s financial situation is not good and they know that the Super League is Barcelona’s future. This competition saves everyone and saves football. ”
The existence of the Super League is also good for the relatively smaller clubs, Pérez emphasized. “These clubs depend on the whole. It cannot be that the majority of the modest clubs in the Spanish league are making money and Barcelona are losing money. That is a strange situation and it cannot be. It cannot be that six clubs in England are losing money and fourteen other clubs are making money. When I talk about solidarity, I really mean it. The big clubs generate the most money and we divide it among the rest. But if there is no money, there are no rich and no poor. And then in the end no one will have anything. The corona pandemic has prevented us from continuing. If we come to an agreement with UEFA, we want to start in August. And otherwise from next year. ”
“I know what LeBron James deserves and I don’t know what the president of UEFA deserves,” Pérez reiterated the lack of transparency. “I don’t think the salaries of the people within UEFA dropped during the pandemic. Why does everyone know what I deserve as president of Real Madrid and no one can know what the president of LaLiga or UEFA receives every month? In the Super League project, 55 percent is based on salaries. The costs are getting higher, contract renewals are getting more difficult and we are even struggling to find sponsors. We must also show solidarity with those parties. We can’t pretend that nothing happened. The footballers? Some do not see the seriousness of the situation. ”