The economic crises, the pandemic, the emergence of new players such as Saudi Arabia…. There are many challenges that Javier Tebas (San José, Costa Rica, 1962) has faced at the helm of LaLiga. And it is that ten years go a long way. The highest leader of professional clubs continues to see things that could be improved in his organization, but he continues to rank it as the best league in the world.

What awaits us in this new LaLiga EA Sports and Hypermotion? This is a year full of novelties in LaLiga: the name, the brand or the logo, but also other deeper ones. The fan will enjoy a new way of experiencing football, especially with innovations in broadcasts. It is also important to improve access to football through operators for both LaLiga EA Sports and LaLiga Hypermotion.
The change of sponsor benefits them financially, right? Yes, but it has not been the main reason. After six seasons with Banco Santander, we understood that in order to make a qualitative leap we needed to implement profound changes such as that of the main sponsor. It is an alliance with a common purpose: we are committed to revolutionizing the consumption of soccer.
Does the change of corporate image respond to this new line of innovation that they want to imprint on the competition? We had an image that no longer matched the reality of LALIGA, it had become too small for us, and at a time of so much strategic change we also decided to evolve this identity.

Javier Tebas at the Ibero-American Congress. Europa Press Since his arrival, LaLiga has improved economically, in terms of impact…. What do you think the competition is missing? We have achieved a lot, we are more than 600 professionals worldwide, more than 200 million people on social networks and they see us in more than 180 countries. But we can still go further, for example in our international presence, key to our growth. Also in new technological developments to explore other ways of connecting with fans, the development of LaLiga clubs….
A very important challenge is to adapt to the disruption of the audiovisual world in sport. Of course, the obligation to continue fighting with more strength, more resources and more forcefulness to eradicate any trace of racism and intolerance from our football. Lastly, developing the defense of a balanced and fair governance model in European football such as the launch of the Union of European Clubs (UEC), supported by LaLiga, which advocates offering a voice to all clubs, not just the most elite .
If you had to make a global ranking, how would you place LaLiga EA Sports worldwide? Sportingly, with objective data, LaLiga would be in first place because we lead the ranking of European titles since, of the last 68 trophies, it has 35 against the 13 of the Premier. If we talk about players, we have a predominant position with 6 Golden Boy, 24 Ballon d'Or and 15 Golden Boot.
But we cannot forget economic sustainability thanks to our financial control. Our competition and its clubs are leaders in solvency without the need for aid or subsidies. Obviously, the Premier League is a great competition, but it does not have a sustainable model, since it has lost more than 2.8 billion euros in just the last five seasons.
The Premier League is a referential competition at the income level, but another actor has burst in with great force, the Saudi league. Is it a threat? What is a reference is in spending and from LaLiga we have spent years defending the need to establish common rules of the game for all. Having leagues that allow clubs losses in a generalized way and that are only sustained thanks to the funds contributed by millionaire shareholders without an economic-financial rationale, distorts the competition. Are you surprised that players, still at the top of their careers, have accepted offers from there, Benzema among them? Each one will have their reasons, but they are still professionals making the decisions they consider most appropriate for their careers. Where you have to focus is on solving the imbalance produced by artificially inflated leagues, which are the ones that cause competitiveness problems and adulterate the competition.
There are others, however, who have rejected it. Kroos, Modric, Busquets, Alba and Mbappé. Do you think Mbappé has reasons to come to LaLiga? Will he do it? Any player who wants to play in the elite has reasons to come to LaLiga. We are the competition with the most European titles and with the most awarded players, so the motivation to come is a fact. About whether or not it will, I should not be the one to answer. Personally, I would love it, I want the best playing here.

Javier Tebas at a press conference on the Negreira case. EFE Does the League lose weight without Benzema, Busquets or Asensio. Is it compensated with the arrivals of Bellingham, Gundogan or Azpilicueta? No, it's a very superficial vision and we must also appreciate those who don't leave and who are the world's leading stars: Vinicius, Pedri, Griezmann or En-Nesyri, among others. In addition, those who have come have done so to a football without inflationary vortex in the purchase of players, the result of a good strategy that causes great players to have arrived free.
They compare us with other leagues due to spending on transfers, but it is a mistake if it is not analyzed if the purchase and sale of players responds to sporting objectives. LaLiga has value as a competition beyond individual talents. Even so, if we talk about great players, the reality is that, of the last 13 Ballon d'Ors, 12 have been for LaLiga players. Recently, you have had a crossover with Gerard Piqué about his Kings League, do you think LaLiga Do you have things to learn from your competition? There is no point in comparing them because they are completely different. But you can learn from everything and Piqué has been able to generate great expectations with a new product made with characters from different fields.. We share innovation, the search for new resources and go beyond the football ecosystem.
Another league with which he does not have a very good relationship is the SuperLiga. Do you conclude the project and its threat? The project is finished, but the threat is not. Its main promoter will continue to use its resources to keep alive an initiative that would allow it to control professional football not only at a Spanish level, but also at a European level and, if you hurry me, worldwide, to the detriment of the rest of the clubs. At least that project has managed to smooth things over between you and Rubiales. Do you think that they will be able to unite Spanish football or that, at least, their personal relationship will not affect you? The conflict between Rubiales and me is not personal. We have opposite concepts of what professional football and management work in it should be. We are committed to sustainability, internationalization and permanent innovation and a transparent and democratic management model.Negreira and the futureLast year one of the largest cases of corruption broke out in the arbitration establishment. In this specific case, we have acted and carried out the pertinent controls based on what our powers allow us.
Do you have plans to continue in charge of LaLiga for many years? I intend to continue for four more seasons and run for re-election, but it is the teams that decide. As of today I feel the support for this renewal of the vast majority.
How do you see LaLiga of the future? It will be an increasingly strong and consolidated brand in areas beyond football. Today it already has the largest ecosystem in the sports and entertainment industry. I think it will have an even bigger international presence. Brands like Real Madrid or FC Barcelona are recognized anywhere in the world, and in the future most of the clubs in our competition will also be. Also, we will have first class facilities thanks to LaLiga Impulso.

LaLiga, with the new surname EA Sports, starts this Friday with contained enthusiasm. The economic crisis and financial control have caused what was La Liga de las estrellas to put a stop to millionaire signings and trust the recovery to the explosion of emerging figures and the still unfulfilled desire of Kylian Mbappé to play for Real Madrid. Without Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo, the focus of the Spanish competition for a decade, and with the departure of Benzema (last Ballon d'Or), the League is increasingly distancing itself from the Premier, despite the fact that sporting results have not diminished due to to the good performances of Real Madrid, Sevilla and Villarreal.

The new LaLiga show is based on the arrival of the English Bellingham, in Pedri (the most valued Spaniard), the exhibitions of Vinicius and the irruption of emerging figures (Fermín, Lamine Yamal) from a Barcelona financially distressed and that until the last minute is going to suffer to register some of its players, such as Gündogan, Iñigo Martínez, Araujo or Marcos Alonso. Laporta is pending the transfer of Dembélé and part of the sale of Barça Studios to expedite registration. They also have to speed up, among others, Betis, Sevilla, Celta, Getafe, Las Palmas and Osasuna.

The League is the second most valued competition, with 9,000 million, but it only represents half that of the Premier, with 18,000 million, according to Transfermarkt. Behind are Serie A, the Bundesliga, Ligue 1 and the Saudi Pro League, which has made a spectacular leap in the transfer spending table. In this section, LaLiga occupies the sixth place.

Premier League teams have bought €1.613 million worth of players, followed by Bundesliga clubs with 541 and Italian Serie A with 532. France sums 483 and Arabia, 465. LaLiga remains at 280 million. This represents 7.6% of the total expenditure of the main competitions in the market.

“The money spent is what it is. I would be concerned if the money invested was greater and could not be paid,” warned Javier Tebas last June. To the crisis derived from the Covid, which crushed several of the locomotive clubs in the market, such as Barcelona, Atlético or Valencia, add the fair play conditions that LaLiga imposes on the clubs and that it monitors so exhaustively that the teams spend all of August wondering whether or not they will be able to register their signings. The limit of losses for three years or that the contribution of the maximum shareholders cannot exceed 25% are two of the great differences that weigh down the Spanish clubs before the dominators of the market: the English.

MARKET ENTERTAINER

Among the 10 most expensive signings on the European market, which will remain open until September 1, there is only one LaLiga footballer: Jude Bellingham. Real Madrid paid 103 million euros to Borussia Dortmund for the British midfielder. The biggest outlay was made by Arsenal, with Declan Rice (116.6).

The white club has been the great national animator by also disbursing 20 million for the young Turk Arda Güler. Now it will shake the market again before the loss of Courtois. The rest of the teams have barely exceeded the cost of 10 million, only Sevilla exercising the option for Bade, although some, like Girona, have made the most expensive in their history.

It does not go unnoticed that in the transfer table there is no payment from the current league champion, Barcelona, nor from the clubs that will accompany Real Madrid in the Champions League: Atlético and Real Sociedad.

For the moment, the Barcelona team has only gone to the market to sign Oriol Romeu for five million. Iñigo Martínez and Gündogan (they arrive for free) and their dazzling homegrown players are the new faces for Xavi Hernández. Javi Galán (3.5) and Söyüncü (free) have joined Simeone's group and he recovers good projection loanees: Samu Lino, Camello and Riquelme. He still has to solve Joao Félix's headache. His departure would give him room for maneuver. Nor has Real Sociedad spent, but Sevilla has, exercising the options for Lodi Bade (10 million) and Djibril Sow (10). Villarreal, who will be in the Europa League, has invested part of the sales of Pau Torres (33) and Jackson (37) in Alexander Sorloth (10), something that neither Betis nor Osasuna, the other national representatives in competitions, have done. European.

Real Madrid and Bayern (this Thursday they signed the Englishman Kane for 100 million) are the only teams that manage to compete with the English in the most expensive signings. A ranking dominated by the Premier. In the last places of the Top-10, PSG appears with the South Korean center-back Kim Min-jae and the Uruguayan midfielder Ugarte, both cost 60 million.

It is not only difficult for the clubs in the League to compete with the wallet, they are also losing the condition of a seller's market, as reflected in the flows of purchases and sales in the major leagues. All major competitions tend to be nourished, mainly, by their own environment. With Ligue 1, six operations worth 21.5 million have been closed and they have hardly been caught in Serie A and the Premier. Of the 1,603 million invested by English clubs, only 124.20 have ended up in Spain. Five operations have been carried out for the 10 in Serie A and the nine in the Bundesliga, very marked by the 100 million Manchester City for Gvardiol. The Bundesliga has not left a single euro in the Spanish coffers. The emerging Saudi Pro had not shown interest either until the signing of Barcelona player Kessié for 12.5 million came to fruition. Alex Collado and Benzema left for free. The Arabs have fixed their eyes, above all, on England (226.40 million).

LaLiga begins today and the vast majority of First Division teams have not been able to register all of their squads in the competition.

At the moment, there are clubs like Barcelona that have more than 10 players who could not be listed in the tournament just a few hours before the start of the tournament.. However, it should be remembered that, despite the dispute on the first day, the term does not end until the end of the transfer market and that it is something that happens repeatedly season after season..

Even so, it is worth remembering the changes in the regulations in the financial fair play of LaLiga, since it is one of the main responsible for the situation.

Before, those teams that violated said law and entered a more restrictive phase, the rule of 1/4 was applied to them, which implies that in order to spend on staff they have to enter more money than normal. To achieve this, they had to decapitalize, that is, sell many players or players of great value, because only then could they generate the significant 25% that can be applied to squad expenses.

The pandemic has affected Spanish teams in this regard, although LaLiga changed the regulations to make losses more bearable during that time.. The entities lost various sources of income and also some of the teams had sales of important players that could never be made and their accounts were out of balance.

“You have to reflect on whether the start of the competition should coincide with the end of the market, because now we are all going to lose out with what is going to happen to Spanish football this weekend,” explained Víctor Orta, Sevilla's sports director, a team that, as admitted, will not be able to register all its players before the start of the championship.

Everything exemplified here is collected and developed by La Liga in its budgeting regulations.

The norm of 40%, now 50% (or 60%)

To this day, the teams that are not being able to register their players are those that break the rules established by LaLiga. In Spain, the clubs affected by the financial fair play regulations have to have a positive cash register and comply with the maximum expense established.. In the event that an entity fails to comply with the rule, a restriction is imposed on the salary limit, which some time ago changed to 40% to improve the fluidity of the market and the sustainability of the clubs.

This change meant that of each salary that the squad left, only 40% of it could be used for new registrations. This measure, despite improving the available funds, is considered insufficient by many clubs.

For this reason, from the competition directive they established that from the end of June of this summer and temporarily during the summer period, this percentage would grow to 50%.. In addition, it could be extended if the sale is of a player with a large salary, since if its sale involves the release of a percentage equal to or greater than 5% of the Cost of the Sports Squad (CDP), 60% can be counted of the benefits to apply them to staff expenses.

The president of LaLiga, Javier Tebas GUILLERMO MARTÍNEZ THE WORLD

At 3:50 p.m. on Friday, August 11, the registration data for the first division teams is as follows:

Alaves

Some air for Luis García's team after the registrations of Nikola Maras, Antonio Blanco and Rafa Marín (from the subsidiary), but it continues to be one of the teams in the worst situation, since it has only been able to register 15 players.

Almeria

Before opening the competition at the Power Horse Stadium they have registered their last two signings: Sergio Arribas, from Real Madrid and Idrissu Baba, from Mallorca. Without problems for Ernesto Valverde's team, they will be able to count on their entire squad for their first game against Real Madrid this Saturday.

Athletic

The club from the capital keeps everything in order as it has 25 players registered in the La Liga database.

Barcelona

The Blaugrana club has only 13 registered players and among them are Kessié and Dembélé who are players whose departure from the club is probable.

Iñaki Peña, Ronald Araujo, Sergi Roberto, Alejandro Balde, Marcos Alonso and Abde have yet to register.

In addition, the three signings they have made are also missing: Oriol Romeu, Íñigo Martínez and Gündogan, the latter has a clause that allows him to leave if he is not registered in La Liga.

The signings of Barcelona Oriol Romeu, Ilkay Gündogan and Íñigo Martínez QUIQUE GARCÍA EFE Celta

After the registration of Unai Núñez, they have completed all the registrations.

Cadiz

Guardiola, Meré, Osmajic and Pires remain to register. Even so, there are already 23 players that the Cádiz team has registered.

Getafe

José Bordalás's team has 19 players available for the clash in their first game of the season against Barcelona. They highlight the lack of registrations of players such as Omar Alderete, Jonathan Silva and Damián Suárez.

Girona

After registering the Ukrainian Dovbyk, the most expensive signing in the club's history, they have 20 players waiting to register Pau Víctor, Yangel Herrera and Gazzaniga.

Grenade

After registering the Frenchman Diedhiou, from Alanyaspor, the Andalusian team has 22 players for its return to the first division.

the palms

It has 22 players on the squad after the registrations of Escandell and Sinkgraven.

Majorca

After the registration of Samu Costa, protagonist of an exchange with Almería that involved midfielder Idrissu Baba, the Balearic team has all its signings for the start of LaLiga.

Osasuna

They already have 22 players on the squad after processing Mojica's registration.

Presentation of Johan Mojica J. P. URDÍROZ EFE Lightning

Before starting the competition against Almería, he has registered his latest signing, Kike Pérez, from Valladolid.

real Madrid

All registered signings and a total of 24 players on the squad.

Real Betis

While the fight to register the signings of Ayoze, Marc Roca, Bellerín, Bartra, Isco and Chadi Riad continues, the Verdiblanco club has registered homegrown players Juan Cruz, Rodri Sánchez and Juan Miranda, who were already part of the first team last last season.

Real society

After the signing of Hamadi Traoré, the txuriurdin club has signed up its latest addition, André Silva, from Leipzig on loan.

Seville

The sports director Víctor Orta himself has complained today about the difficulty in registering players, even so, there are already 23 players available for the team.

Presentation of Djibril Sow CRISTINA QUICLER AFP Valencia

The team from the capital of the Valencian Community already has 21 players registered in the championship.

villarreal

22 players that Quique Setién has at his disposal although Ilias Akhomach has yet to register.