Tebas 'limiting foreign investment to save Barcelona and Real Madrid'

Tebas explains why LaLiga clubs are not allowed owner investments on the level Premier League.

Javier Tebas has revealed that LaLiga currently employs a model that discourages club owners from investing the bulk of their own money into their clubs because they do not want to endanger Barcelona, Real Madrid, and Athletic Club, who are all member-owned.

The LaLiga president has regularly surfaced in the news for publicly criticising the spending policies of Premier League clubs, Paris Saint-Germain, and even Barcelona in his own LaLiga.

Tebas on owner investments

Tebas spoke at a press conference after a meeting with representatives from LaLiga clubs, and LaLiga's financial model was one of the things he mentioned.

Following the close of the January transfer window and the usual behemoth involvement of the Premier League in the market, Tebas released a tweet claiming Premier League teams were ‘economically doping' as their supposed strength and financial muscle is based on millions in losses for club owners of clubs in the league. Attached to the tweet was a video of LaLiga’s corporate director further explaining the tweet. 

He argued that LaLiga clubs are only allowed to spend what they are able to generate autonomously, and shareholder support is limited, but in the Premier League, the opposite is the case, suggesting that is the reason Premier League clubs are capable of huge financial outlays.

Speaking today, Tebas revealed that LaLiga has chosen not to go down the Premier League route of significant investments by club owners because it could prove detrimental to clubs that are owned by members, most notably Barcelona, Real Madrid and Athletic Club.

"If that is the model we want, that of patrons who make losses, we would endanger the model of FC Barcelona, Real Madrid or Athletic Club," Tebas said at the press conference.

How external investments could affect the three teams

Barcelona, Athletic Club and Real Madrid are three clubs with distinct identities; however, they share many similarities and common grounds.

The three clubs carry the hopes and have the support of the majority in three of Spain's most prominent autonomous communities: Barcelona in Catalonia, Athletic Club in the Basque Country, and Real Madrid in the Madrid community. 

They are three of the most historic clubs in LaLiga and are the only three who have never been relegated from the first division. They are also only the only three clubs in LaLiga who turned down the CVC deal, which saw LaLiga clubs give up a portion of their TV deals for a long-term loan.

These clubs also have a unique ownership model, as they are owned by club members, who number in the thousands, with a president elected by the members at intervals.

Javier Tebas believes if LaLiga clubs are allowed to have owners who can pump in an obscene amount of liquidity into football clubs, it would affect these three giants whose ownership model makes this parachute unavailable.

Real Valladolid owner Ronaldo Nazario and Barcelona president Joan Laporta

This prevents owners like Fernando Roig Alfonso (Villarreal), Peter Lim (Valencia), and Ronaldo Delima (Real Valladolid) from making significant investments in their clubs on the level of their Premier League counterparts.