Spanish top side Real Madrid has launched a lawsuit against La Liga president Javier Tebas. The club will begin civil and criminal action against La Liga boss and also CVC Capital Partners’ chief Javier de Jaime Guijarro. According to reports, it is over a deal that will see a private equity company get a 10% share of future La Liga television rights.
La Liga said clubs could vote on the 2.7bn euro (£2.3bn) deal on 12 August. The Spanish FA (RFEF) are opposed to the proposed investment, suggesting that it “increases inequality”. However, La Liga said Real Madrid were using “coercive and threatening” methods to stop clubs from having their say on the deal.
The league says the deal will strengthen its clubs and give them funds to spend on new infrastructure as well as increasing how much they could spend on players’ salaries. RFEF is of the opinion that it will have a negative impact on the team and players as well.
This could be traced to the Lionel Messi case where the player wanted to extend his contract with Real Madrid but could not because of the La Liga rule. Tebas tweeted on Tuesday that clubs “have had to put up with threats for years” from Real Madrid president Florentino Perez.
He has since tweeted to criticise the RFEF’s opposition to the deal, saying that they have not studied the details properly and were quick to condemn La Liga, despite remaining silent over the proposed European Super League. CVC Capital Partners, on the other hand, said: “the legal action announcement is totally disproportionate and manifestly unfounded”, adding that it reserved the right to take any available legal action to defend itself.”
Barcelona is one of the clubs who have voiced opposition to the deal, with the club’s president Joan Laporta saying it was like “mortgaging the club’s rights over the next half-century”.