Florentino Pérez, the president of the Real Madrid and of the European Super League, spoke for the first time in public after the creation of the new continental competition that will involve Barcelona, Atlético, Real Madrid, Arsenal, Chelsea, Tottenham, Manchester City, Manchester United, Liverpool, Juventus, Inter and Milan. The president and main promoter of the Super League went to Mega to give explanations about the new competition.
Origin of the idea
“The important clubs of England, Spain and Italy they have to solve a very bad football situation. The ECA says that 5 billion have been lost. The Real Madrid It had a budget of 800 million euros and we ended up with 700. And this year instead of 900, let's see if we enter 600. The Madrid it has stopped entering 400 million since the beginning of the pandemic ”.
“When you have no income beyond television, the way to make it profitable is to make more attractive matches. This is how we begin to work. We conclude that by making a Super league weekdays, instead of Champions, we would be able to alleviate the lost income “, continued the president of the Super league.
“We are all ruined”
“Football has to evolve, like everything else. It has to adapt to the times and something had to be done with the pandemic. We are all broke. Television is the medium that has to change to adapt to the times. 40% of young people have no interest in football because there are many poor quality matches. They have other platforms ”.
“We understand that we have to change to make this sport more attractive worldwide. We all came up with it. The Champions was losing interest. FIFA opposed the creation of the European Cup at the time and now we are in a similar situation ”
“The attractive thing is that we play among the greats. We do it to save football, which is at a critical moment. What makes money is television and money is for everyone. If we at the top have money, it flows down ”.
War with UEFA
“It is not a closed league, it is not true, it is open. We believe in the merits of the teams. We are supportive. UEFA earns 120 million. And if we generate more money, UEFA would enter three or four times more. We do it to save football. We are going to talk to UEFA and FIFA, we have said so in the statement. I do not understand that they get angry.
“UEFA is working on another format. There is no one who understands it and it does not generate income to save football. It is to save everyone, not just Madrid or the greats. We want to save football to live the next 20 years with peace of mind because the situation is dramatic “
“UEFA is a monopoly and it must be transparent. We want to improve and save football. I do not own Madrid. I entered Madrid to save the club and I did it selflessly because the economic situation was very bad, the players did not get paid. Now we want to help and save football ”.
Criticism of UEFA
“UEFA does not have a good image, it must be open to dialogue and not threatening. They have made a format that does not work. Everybody says it doesn't work, nobody understands it. In 2024 we will be dead. There are clubs that have lost hundreds of millions of euros. In Spain, England and other leagues “
“We have offered dialogue. We believe that the format will save football. They are not going to kick Madrid out of the Champions League. To Madrid or to anyone. The law protects us. I am completely sure. UEFA is not distinguished by its transparency. The monopoly has to end. Soccer is in danger. If the big guys win, everyone wins. It is a pyramid ”.
“The domestic leagues are not going to lose value”
“We are talking about a very serious thing. Soccer has 4,000 million followers, and these clubs only among them 2,000 million. You can't lose that much money. There are people who believe that these institutions are theirs. We want to help “
“The League is not going to lose value. In basketball we play ACB and Euroleague. At first there were difficulties. You can coexist perfectly. We think this competition is better. The Premier is entrenched. Without the big ones they are less strong, it affects the little ones ”.
The Champions loses attractiveness
“The Champions League is attractive from the quarterfinals, the rest are of little interest. If we do it all season, with five games on Tuesday and another five on Wednesday, that's unbeatable ”.
“We have not invited PSG and neither have the two Germans. It is silly to say that we are going to end the Leagues, I do not know why that is said “
“Meritocracy cannot exist for 50. Naples, Rome will also have the right … If it is not one year, it will be the next. But what makes money are the 15 fixed players who play each other every week, it is the greatest show. No sport has 4,000 million pending, in reality pending of a few teams “
Ceferin's criticism of Agnelli
“What you can't do is insult like the UEFA team has done. It seems unpresentable about Ceferin, that is not done with Agnelli, who represents a century-old institution. We don't want insults. In democratic Europe that cannot be tolerated. The new format is for 2024 and in 2024 we will all be dead “
“The Super League is a competition to save football”
“It is a League to save football, made out of solidarity. It is not for the rich. We are going to explain what this competition is, tomorrow Laporta and others will leave. This is the only way to save the modest, the medium and the great. We owe ourselves to the 4,000 million fans who want more competitiveness and spectacle.
“It is not true that we are going to end the Leagues. We do not yet know the criteria, but sporting merit will be assessed. It is not a closed League, the statement is perfect “
“We have added the European Cups to the Champions League, we will fight to continue being the best. Life has changed, you have to respond to these people “
The Champions loses interest and changing the format in 2024 is absurd “
“They will not throw us out of this Champions”
“They are not going to kick us out of this Champions League. The law protects us. It is impossible.
Soccer is in free fall
“We are risking the future of football. UEFA is not being responsible. We have lost 5,000 million. We are on the brink of ruin and we must take responsibility. Soccer is in free fall ”.
President of the Super League
“I give it to anyone, Laporta, Agnelli … Whoever wants. The VAR will be improved, the referees, there will be Financial Fair Play. It will be an important step for football to last a hundred years more ”.
Critical situation
“If we don't do something, this is going to go away. It is the most serious situation I have ever experienced. There are many things to change. There are competitions that people do not even know what they are called “
“I sense what is coming and so the world of football cannot follow. We have been working on this for more than two years. The pandemic has given us the last straw “
The 12 founding clubs, agree
“The 12 clubs are sure to do things well, we all signed on Saturday. Let's do it all together. We are not just any clubs. Leave some? No, it is binding. They don't come off. Let's all negotiate together. The English who are more are upset if someone could think that the Premier was going to disappear. Those who do not want to lose their privileges have said that ”.
“We are going to explain it well, why this is the solution of football. You have to make a stop along the way ”.
Who will be the referees
“We will select the best referees with professional procedures. We will do the best we can “
The modest will win
“We want what we do to be worth more. I don't know why it is said that the Leagues will end, that this is a closed League …
“The survival of the little ones depends on the team doing well. It is not considered that the little ones win and the big ones don't. It cannot be that the big six lose and the other 14 win with television. The pandemic has changed it “
“We really want solidarity, for it to work, everything has to go well for us.”
Low interest from young people
“You have to make an effort to understand why young people have lost interest. Something happens. You have to generate interest, there are games that I can't stand “
Transparency
“I believe in transparency. We do not know what the president of UEFA or the League charges … Everyone knows my salary. You have to be transparent and professional. I love football and Madrid very much and it makes me sad to see all this ”.
“Expenses go up and income goes down. There are people who think that nothing is wrong. I have to do a pedagogical task and explain what is happening “
Changes in football
“UEFA has to understand that football has changed. In the situation we are in, we die, we have to make it more competitive. They can compete to fill one of those positions. Something has to follow, make a second league or something. UEFA must understand that football has changed in Europe and that there are countries that want a different competition. I hear the Scandinavians say they want to make a league, the Balkans, BENELUX … They want to change because in the current situation, we die “
We want to do like the Euroleague
“We want to talk to UEFA and the Champions. I'm going to work together with the 12 to improve the competition. We want to do the same as in basketball. We want to be masters of our destiny. The thing about the rich and the poor is nonsense, those who want to maintain their privileges say it “
“The pandemic has led us to a situation that we cannot bear. We are not going to do this or anything. It is necessary to make approaches with all the parts. The thing about rich and poor is a lie, as the president of England says.
“Maybe we can't do it, we don't know, but we're going to try.”