After 10 of the 12 clubs involved in the creation of the breakaway competition quickly dropped out under an escalating backlash,
“It is absolutely necessary,” Laporta said on Catalan public television in his first public comments on the project. “The biggest clubs create the most financial resources and we must have our say in deciding how the earnings are shared.”
Even so, his own club issued a statement hours after he spoke that was aimed at calming tensions and promised to listen to the plan's critics.
The six English clubs involved in the competition pulled out Tuesday amid escalating complaints from their supporters and warnings from the British government. A day later, Spanish club Atlético
Despite being left nearly alone, Pérez — the competition’s supposed first chairman — said late Wednesday that the idea was not dead, but rather on standby.
Both
Laporta, who previously served as
The club’s finances have been hard hit by the pandemic, which has compounded problems in a budget that was already loaded by the highest payroll in soccer last season. Laporta’s financial challenges include trying to convince
“Laporta was elected very recently and I spoke to him two or three times. He was under great pressure due to the financial situation he inherited," Ceferin said. “This happens when you overpay some players and don’t get a result.”
The chances to boost revenue by cutting
“There have been pressures placed on some clubs, but the proposal is still standing,” Laporta said. “We have very important investments, our salaries are very high, and those must be taken into consideration, along with sporting merits.”
Barcelona’s participation was conditioned by Laporta’s pledge to let the club’s members vote on the proposal.
“We are keeping a prudent stance," Laporta said. "It is a necessity, but our club members will have the final word.”
Laporta appeared open to tweaking the most controversial part of the project — locking in the 15 founding clubs and leaving only five berths open for other teams to join each season.
“It has to be an attractive competition, based on merit won on the field,” Laporta said. “We defend our national leagues and an open dialogue with
In its statement,
But the club added that while standing by the
“This deeper analysis requires time and the necessary calm to prevent any hasty action being taken,” the club said.
Time appears to be one thing
While Laporta spoke in
“I think that
But Tebas saved his strongest criticism for
“If they say that the
Players on the Spanish clubs not in the project wore T-shirts before league matches on Wednesday criticizing it. Otherwise, protests against the
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