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La Liga president Javier Tebas has said Florentino Perez sounds like “Robin Hood” when discussing plans for a Super League, describing the project as “a joke” and claiming one Premier League club feels “cheated” over their involvement.
Real Madrid‘s Perez — named president of the proposed breakaway league on its launch — insisted last week that “the Super League continues” and alleged the six English clubs that initially signed up had been “coerced” into withdrawing their support.
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UEFA’s disciplinary action against the three remaining rebel clubs — Real Madrid, Barcelona and Juventus — has been paused after a judge in Madrid issued a preliminary injunction, and the merits of the case will now be assessed by the European Court of Justice.
The other nine clubs which have disowned the plans — Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United, Tottenham Atletico Madrid, Inter Milan and AC Milan — have already accepted fines from UEFA.
“An English team has told me they felt cheated by what they signed. One day the story will have to be told of what happened,” Tebas told Spanish radio show El Transistor on Sunday.
“It isn’t as straightforward as ‘we’ve been threatened, and we’ll fight to be liberated…’ The other day [when Perez appeared on El Transistor] I thought it was Robin Hood in the interview.”
He added: “Some of [the clubs involved] feel cheated. They were told other clubs had signed, or would sign, that Paris Saint-Germain would join in two months. Atletico Madrid were told that if they didn’t sign, Sevilla would.”
Tebas and Perez, who are two of the most influential figures in Spanish football, have clashed over numerous issues in recent years, with Madrid losing a court battle with La Liga last month over how the league’s TV rights are managed.
“Florentino Perez and I have concepts of football that are very different, that are opposing,” Tebas said.
“It’s curious that [the Super League] is not about sporting merit, but based on followers on social media. It’s a joke.”
The La Liga president said he had been more surprised by Barcelona’s ongoing backing for the scheme, confirmed by Joan Laporta during the club’s general assembly earlier this month.
“The financial situation of Barca has affected them,” Tebas said. “Laporta is a football man, maybe more than Florentino… I’m not going up against Real Madrid and Barcelona. I’m defending the rest.”