Spanish FA president labels LaLiga's CVC deal as shameful
MADRID, Aug 17 (Reuters) - Spanish FA (RFEF) president has labelled LaLiga's investment deal with private equity firm CVC as "shameful" and insisted that the Federation still do not consider it legally binding.
LaLiga announced this month it had struck a deal with CVC worth 2.7 billion euros ($3.17 billion) in exchange for a 10% return of the league's revenue, as well as a 10% stake in a newly formed company housing a range of commercial activities, including centralised television rights.
The announcement received staunch opposition from Real Madrid, who said they would sue LaLiga https://www.reuters.com/business/finance/real-madrid-sue-la-liga-cvc-chiefs-over-proposed-32-bln-deal-2021-08-10, while Barcelona also rejected the proposal https://www.reuters.com/article/uk-soccer-spain-fcb/soccer-barca-join-real-in-rejecting-la-ligas-proposed-cvc-investment-idUKKBN2F62ON.
As a result CVC modified their offer, allowing clubs to opt out, with 38 of the 42 sides from the country's top two divisions approving the motion last week.
Athletic Bilbao and Oviedo joined the aforementioned duo in rejecting it.
In the aftermath of the announcement, the RFEF said they considered the proposal illegal, a point that Rubiales reiterated on Tuesday.
"It's a historic agreement, but it's a shameful agreement," Rubiales said at a meeting with all of the first division clubs.
"We're dealing with the biggest case of decapitalisation of clubs in the history of Spanish football. If an agreement is approved by a majority, that's good, but doesn't make it legal.
"LaLiga has worked out the calculations it will be making over the next few years. The RFEF is the guarantor of the competition in itself and the competition is being irreversibly damaged.
"It is historic, no doubt, but for CVC."
RFEF general secretary Andreu Camps backed up the presidents words, saying: "The Federation says no way and will do everything it can to avoid it." ($1 = 0.8527 euros) (Reporting by Joseph Walker Editing by Christian Radnedge)
