Madrid (AFP) – La Liga president Javier Tebas said on Tuesday the Spanish league will send its formal complaint to UEFA in “one or two days” regarding Kylian Mbappe’s new contract at Paris Saint-Germain.
Tebas said it was “impossible there has not been cheating”, referring to UEFA’s financial fair play rules, and that La Liga “is not going to allow a European club to destroy the ecosystem of European football.”
Mbappe rejected Real Madrid to sign a new three-year deal at PSG last week, prompting Tebas to say the agreement was an “insult to football” given the French club’s financial losses.
PSG suffered a 224.3-million-euro ($240m) loss in 2020/21, an increase of 80 percent on the previous year, the annual report from French football’s financial authority (DNCG) said earlier this month.
“The complaint that we will present to UEFA is already drafted and in the review phase,” Tebas said in Madrid, adding that it would be sent “in one or two days”.
La Liga introduced a system of strict spending restrictions in 2013, which include budgets being imposed on every Spanish club depending on their financial situation.
La Liga insist the controls increase the competitive balance of the league and encourage clubs to adopt longer-term approaches to spending.
“We are not going to allow a European club to destroy the ecosystem of European football,” said Tebas.
“Deep down, it doesn’t matter to us who the owner is, whether it’s a state or not, the problem is the attitude of the owner because there is no limit, the losses don’t matter, they spend as much money as they want, they cheat with sponsorships linked to the state… that’s the problem.”
UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin said in an interview with AFP in Paris on Friday he rejected La Liga’s criticism of Mbappe’s new deal.
“I absolutely don’t agree. There are too many insults anyway in football, and I think that every league should worry about their own situation,” Ceferin said.
“I don’t think it is right that one league criticises the other league. As much as I know, the offer from Real for Mbappe was similar to PSG’s offer,” Ceferin added.
