‘The Super League is DEAD’: Defiant LaLiga president Javier Tebas condemns breakaway competition

Javier Tebas believes the European Super League is ‘realistically dead’ after joining LaLiga sides in condemning the proposed breakaway league.

Twelve clubs – including Spanish trio Real Madrid, Barcelona and Atletico Madrid – announced themselves as founding members of the competition on Sunday.

But just 48 hours later, the Premier League ‘Big Six’ withdrew their commitment to the Super League, and were soon joined by Atletico in pulling out of the competition. 

LaLiga president Javier Tebas believes the European Super League is ‘realistically dead’

Florentino Perez and Real Madrid were one of three Spanish sides to sign up to the breakaway competition on Sunday

Now, speaking at a LaLiga conference, Tebas insisted English clubs will never re-join the project, while he maintains Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund will continue their opposition to it.

‘The Super League, as it is, is dead. Let’s be realistic, it is dead,’ Tebas said.

‘The English and German clubs will never enter this competition so they can’t create what they want to create.

‘These clubs are asking for more money – but that will just mean players have seven Ferraris, not six. The problem is more about controlling the costs.’

Atletico Madrid also signed up to the competition but withdrew along with English sides

The comments come after LaLiga clubs issued a statement rejecting the plans for the Super League, which Real Madrid and Barcelona have yet to pull out of.

The statement read: ‘LaLiga met today with the 39 clubs not invited to be part of the European Super League to discuss the recent proposal for this format.

‘The present clubs at the meeting unanimously and strongly rejected the plans for this competition. All clubs firmly believe in sporting merit as the sole criteria to qualify to international club competitions through domestic leagues.

Cadiz fans protested on Wednesday and the other clubs in the league rejected the proposal

‘Today football fans across Europe can dream that their club, no matter the size, may excel, climb to the top and compete at the pinnacle of European football. This European tradition of football for all is paramount and should not be threatened or changed.

‘Global resistance over the past few days has proven that a closed, elitist league is unviable and unwanted. The reaction proves just how much the open ecosystem and football community means to people.

‘LaLiga and the clubs gathered today want to thank everyone involved for the support they have shown this week on this significant issue.

‘LaLiga will continue to work with stakeholders including fan groups, government, UEFA, the RFEF, AFE and European Leagues to protect the best interests of the game and calls on those clubs still involved in the proposed competition to cease their involvement immediately.’ 

Tebas believes English clubs will never re-join the project following protests this week

Real Madrid president Florentino Perez has still however refused to back down in his defence of the disastrous Super League and insists that anyone who thinks the project is dead is ‘completely wrong’.

Perez, also the president of the Super League, claimed a smear campaign was created to oppose the Super League after fierce backlash across Europe, saying claims that the midweek competition would get rid of domestic leagues were not true.

‘I am a bit sad, disappointed,’ he said. ‘We have been working three years on this project, on fighting the current financial situation in Spanish football. It is easy to understand – you cannot touch La Liga, so you look for more money midweek.

‘The leagues are sacred. What we can change is the midweek games. The Champions League is obsolete – it’s only interesting from the quarter-finals onwards.

Perez however claimed that the Super League was not dead on Spanish radio on Wednesday

‘Among the 12 teams we lost €650million last season. This season two or three more times. This format clearly does not work.’

‘They [the English clubs] started a campaign, which was totally manipulated, that we were going to terminate domestic leagues. That we were ending football, it was terrible,’ Perez added.

‘There was someone in the English clubs who did not have much interest. That started to affect the others. There was fear. One of the English clubs was never really convinced.

‘The English clubs tried to do something, but they were being told they were killing football. But there is no other solution than the Super League. Or somebody invents something else.’ 

Tebas had hit out at Perez before Wednesday night’s interview, tweeting: ‘In December 2020 I said that Florentino Pérez was pretty clueless, but right now he’s lost.

‘Football is not ruined. The Super League would be the death of football.’