LaLiga president issues rebuttal to Super League plans

Javier Tebas has penned a scathing op-ed for The Athletic regarding the latest European Super League news. The LaLiga president ripped ESL official Bernd Reichart, dismissed scheduling of the proposed league, and claimed that the big clubs are just looking for a cash grab.

Reichart announced on Thursday that the ESL is now planning to re-launch containing 60-80 total clubs. This structure would include three or four separate divisions. The new plan is vastly different from their initial proposal of one 20-team league. Fans from across the world emphatically protested the potential formation of an ESL. Although most clubs quickly backed away from the idea, ESL organizers are retooling the scheme.

Javier Tebas to soccer fans about Super League: ‘Don’t be fooled’

Despite the modifications, Tebas warns soccer fans that the ESL and the clubs involved are all money and power hungry. “Don’t be fooled. This is the latest attempt to hijack European football by the big clubs,” Tebas writes. “Using various entities over the years, big clubs have repeatedly held the various bodies of European football hostage, securing more and more money and power for themselves.”

The LaLiga president also labels Reichart as the face of a coup by the massive European clubs. “The competition imagined by Mr. Reichart and his friends is a coup against the European football model and would end the national championships whatever they say, hence the unanimous opposition of the national leagues, of all sizes,” proclaimed Tebas.

“Mr Reichart intends to give lessons to all the European leagues. Does he really think league leaders are ignorant?”

Domestic leagues would crumble with ESL

Existing domestic leagues from around Europe would also essentially fall apart according to Tebas. “This ‘open’ model of Mr. Reichart with several divisions ‘based on meritocracy’ reserves the first division for the big clubs,” says the Spainish league president.

“This First Division does not have direct access from the national competitions. It is intended to transfer the ‘vertical’ model of the national leagues to Europe, which would mean the sporting and economic destruction of the domestic leagues.”

It remains to be seen whether or not ESL organizers can get the league off of the ground. However, Reichart and company are certainly doing their best to disrupt the current setup in European soccer.

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