The president of LaLiga, Javier Tebas, reported this Friday that the leading competition, together with the English Premier League and the International Federation of Professional Footballers' Associations (FIFPRO), will present a lawsuit against FIFA before the European Union this Monday. The legal battle has to do with the unilateral decisions that the highest body in world football makes regarding the international calendar, without taking into account the opinion of the national competitions.
According to Tebas, FIFA is saturating the calendar with decisions that, in addition to harming the 300 footballers who play in the elite divisions, also affect tens of thousands of players around the world. "We cannot organize world football with 300 players and 20 teams. In Europe there are 50,000 professional players who earn 1,000 or 2,000 euros a month or who earn 1 or 2 million a month. And families and all that saturation of competitions depend on that industry. , those who do not compete are also affected," explained the president of the association.
In that sense, the LaLiga president gave an example of the new Champions format, which he considers takes away profits from the mid-level leagues and, therefore, affects the salaries that the clubs in these competitions can pay. With this, the football industry suffers a very hard blow. "This is a cake where there are billions of euros that are distributed by the leagues... If a new competition appears, it takes away from someone."
Tebas does not close the door to a general strike of footballers
Returning to the issue of the calendar and the enormous number of national and international matches, Javier Tebas made it clear that the idea of a general strike of footballers, which in recent weeks has been heard loudly, is still a real option. In this regard, he recalled the case of Lass Diarra, who recently won a lawsuit against FIFA for an arbitrary decision on his contract.
"I hope that the latest rulings (Superliga, Diarra) will influence where they make it clear that unilateral decisions cannot be made by FIFA and UEFA without taking into account the owners. They both go in the sense that you have to agree with the actors. Not like "he wants to," said the president of LaLiga. Starting Monday, a new legal battle will begin that could set another historical precedent and change many things in the management of the football industry, especially with regard to the design of calendars and the distribution of money.