As was the case in 2019, Javier Tebas - president of LALIGA - is back on track with his plans to bring a league match to the United States. Together with the promoter Relevent Sports, he already tried to move a Girona - Barça match in January of that same year and a Villarreal - Atlético de Madrid match in December. Both plans failed after the RFEF's continuous demands, however, he is now hatching a better plan.
Tebas has identified what his mistakes were in the last proposal and is determined that he will succeed in carrying out the Barcelona - Atlético de Madrid match on December 21. With Luis Rubiales out of the equation, relations with the RFEF are better than ever and he seems to have all the loose ends tied up.
Disqualifications jeopardize their plans
Following the scandals of its former president, Luis Rubiales, the Royal Spanish Football Federation, headed by Pedro Rocha, has built bridges with LALIGA. Both presidents have verbally committed to removing all cross-claims between the two institutions . To do so, they must wait for what happens on September 10, the date on which the elections for the presidency of the RFEF are held.
If Pedro Rocha leaves, all the joint plans will continue. However, there is a problem that hovers over the ideas of both presidents: the disqualifications that threaten both from the Administrative Court of Sport (TAD ).
In the case of Tebas , a very serious case has been opened regarding the agreement of CVC LALIGA Impulso following the complaint from Real Madrid. The main reason is for urgently calling an Assembly (the one that approved the agreement) with eight days' notice, and not 10 as stipulated by the rules. A meeting that, furthermore, was not called by the president of LALIGA, but by his deputy in the employers' association.
Pedro Rocha , meanwhile, faces a two-year ban for exceeding his functions when he chaired the RFEF Management Committee. During this period, the TAD considers that the Extremaduran leader had committed three very serious offences :
- The dismissal of Andreu Camps - the general secretary of Luis Rubiales -
- The termination of the contract with the GC Legal firm (owned by Tomás González Cueto, legal advisor to the RFEF during Rubiales' mandate)
- The Federation's involvement in the Super Cup case.
Javier Tebas has a Plan B
In the worst case scenario, where both were guilty, the president of LALIGA would leave his plans in the hands of a successor of the same stripe. In any case, it seems that the lawsuit against Javier Tebas will not go any further, since the Assembly for which he is accused really did not serve any purpose. Five months later, in December, the clubs would repeat it and then all the possible defects in the form of the first call were corrected.
The problem for Tebas would be if Pedro Rocha is disqualified and a successor arrives with the air of renewing the RFEF. Although when it comes to money, LALIGA has everything well tied up. Tebas himself has already established links with pro-Rocha and anti-Rocha regional presidents.
In the first case, the relations with Rafael Louzán (Galicia) and Pablo Lozano (Andalusia) are magnificent and in the second, Salvador Gomar (Valencian Community) also maintains a good friendship with Tebas. He even wants various sections and departments of RFEF and LALIGA (Competitions, Marketing, Communications...) to work in harmony.
AFE support: essential
Javier Tebas does not want to leave any loose ends and therefore wants to count on the support of the Spanish Footballers' Association (AFE). To do so, he must agree on every detail with the promoter Relevent Sports to explain to the president, David Aganzo, all the benefits of playing abroad. The relationship between the two leaders started badly, but is currently at its best, something that is not insignificant for Tebas' objective.
However, getting a match abroad is still no easy task. FIFA had already rejected the proposal and, despite the fact that the rules and relations between institutions have changed, convincing all parties will be difficult. In any case, if there is one thing that Javier Tebas and Florentino Pérez , enemies in the offices, have in common, it is their stubbornness to achieve what they set out to do, so anything can happen.