With just a week to go before the assembly of the 42 First and Second Division clubs belonging to the Professional Football League gives the green light to the economic agreement with the British fund CVC, Madrid, Barça and Athletic Club have made public the letter in which, on their own, they propose an alternative to the pact orchestrated by Javier Tebas. According to the promoters of the so-called Sustainable Project, its agreement with other investment funds, such as JP Morgan, allows it to offer the same capital – 2 billion euros to be distributed among the clubs that adhere to the agreement – but with “infinitely better” costs and deadlines.
The initiative led by Florentino Pérez and seconded by his counterparts Joan Laporta and Aitor Elizegi argues that their agreement would have a lower interest rate, between 2.5% and 3% per annum (CVC is over 10%) and with a maximum duration of 25 years, half the years that the agreement defended by Tebas. According to Madrid, Barça and Athletic, its project would amount to a cost of 900 million euros for the clubs in exchange for a total investment by the financiers of 2 billion euros that would be paid in the first year once accepted the agreement. They consider that their proposal is better than that of Tebas – which has the broad support of the League teams – because the pact with CVC would cost the clubs 13.1 billion in exchange for the same amount by the financiers (2 billion ), but which would be received in installments for the first four years and, in addition, the link would be extended for 50 years. According to the calculations of the initiative led by Florentino, his agreement means “saving clubs 12.2 billion, and it is a proposal 15 times cheaper.”
Thebes: “It’s a purely debt operation”
On the other hand, Tebas’s vision is totally critical of the alternative proposed by Madrid, Barça and Athletic, and considers that it is a purely debt operation, which involves transferring 100% of the audiovisual rights to a society that “does not explains who will manage “. Among the arguments of the football employers against the Sustainable Project, it stands out that this is an operation with a fixed return for the lenders, who are not involved, while the contribution of capital by CVC “incorporates a strategic partner that shares the risks of the business “.
Tebas also questions whether the initiative has been suggested by Madrid and Barça, the main promoters of the Superleague, along with the bank that financed this project, JP Morgan, and the advisers who designed it, Key Capital, and cites an expert report prepared by the KPMG company, which concludes that La Liga clubs would lose more than 80% of their value if they went ahead with the Superliga, the other project that involves a great Tebas war with Barça and Madrid. However, League sources quoted by the EFE agency consider it “difficult to understand” that both Barça and Athletic are proposing to others what they do not want for themselves, when they have stated that they are not interested in taking on debt. as set out in the Sustainable Project that they support, despite their interest in receiving capital. Barça, with more than 400 million losses and difficulties in meeting this year’s budget, need money and are exploring various ways to achieve it.
