The Yellows president analysed the situation in European football alongside Javier Tebas and other leading figures from LaLiga clubs
Villarreal CF president Fernando Roig analysed the current situation in European football alongside the LaLiga president Javier Tebas, and the presidents of Sevilla FC, Real Betis, Valencia CF and Levante UD in a remote press conference with journalists from across the world.
During the press conference, Tebas underlined that the proposals for the Super League dissipated quickly: “There has always existed that threat of the creation of an elitist competition parallel to the continental competitions. Finally, the project came to life, but what is possible is that they have finally seen the real consequences of that threat. The project disappeared quickly.”
The LaLiga president also underlined that proposals like this are negative for domestic competitions: “They have said that they are trying to save football and that they won’t cause any damage to the domestic leagues. That isn’t true. They prepared it in secret because because they knew that this was going to damage domestic competitions.”
Villarreal CF president Roig had similar thoughts, underlining that the Super League project ruins the dreams for football fans: “What is great about football is being able to dream of reaching exciting heights. We’ve played in the Champions League three times, which was hugely exciting for our fans. Stopping this dream of achieving big things is really negative.”
Real Betis president Ángel Haro also underlined his opposition to the Super League: “We disagree with this project because it is against the meritocracy of sport and we also don’t share the way that it’s been organised, behind the backs of all the other clubs, without thinking of fans.”
Sevilla FC’s Pepe Castro emphasised that the Andalusian club’s philosophy doesn’t fit with a closed competition where you can only take part through invitation: “We firmly believe in the merit of sporting and economic management to continue taking part in Europe.”
Francisco Javier Catalan, Levante UD president, was also critical of the Super League: “It destroys a successful business model like LaLiga and generates worry for the rest of the clubs. It breaks the principles of solidarity and breaks the fans’ right to dream of seeing their teams in European competition.”
Finally, Anil Murthy, Valencia CF president, thanked LaLiga for defending Spanish football and underlined that the Super League proposals have damaged the sport: “We oppose the European Super League. The proposal has harmed football. Now we need to recover. The changes in European competitions should follow official courses.”
