La Liga's India MD Jose Antonio Cachaza says,'We need to grow alongside cricket'

La Liga India MD Jose Antonio Cachaza moderated a panel discussion on “Football in India today, and what lies ahead” at the World Football Summit 2021. He spoke about the growth of football in India and how they're planning to expand. He spoke about about how he feels that football cannot compete with cricket in terms of the fanfare in India but can learn from the sport to understand how to grow in the country.

"Football is the number 2 sport in India, in broadcast," said Jose Antonio Cachaza on Indians’ receptivity towards football. On cricket's complementary relationship with football, he reflected, "You can’t talk about sports in India without talking about cricket. A question I constantly have to answer when I meet journalists in India is ‘how can football compete with cricket in India?’ and my answer is always the same. We can’t and we won’t. We will learn from cricket and we need to grow alongside cricket."

Real Madrid file lawsuit against La Liga

Real Madrid announced that they will file a lawsuit against La Liga president Javier Tebas, CVC Capital Partners, and its director Javier de Jaime Guijarro after the Spanish league agreed to sell a 10% stake to the investment fund for €2.7 billion (£2.3 billion). Even though the league's executive committee unanimously approved the deal last week, it must be sanctioned in Thursday's general assembly. La Liga requires two-thirds of the 42 voting clubs in the top two tiers of Spanish football to vote in favour.

The La Liga president responded to Madrid's threat on social media by tweeting, "The threatening method that FP (Madrid president Florentino Perez) has been using in private for years is now being transferred to the public. Clubs and institutions have been putting up with their threats for years. Since 2015 against the centralised sale, the constant challenges of agreements, the Super League ... Real Madrid deserves better."

The CVC deal with La Liga

La Liga recently made a deal with CVC Capital Partners, which would see the Spanish league receive a cash infusion of €2.7bn (£2.3bn) in return for 10% of future revenues and a 10% stake. Because of the investment, there is a possibility that the future of the league is handed over to private investors, who may decide to redistribute funds more equitably moving forward. As a result, the likes of Real Madrid and FC Barcelona could receive a smaller share of the revenue despite generating the highest TV revenues for the league.

Image: PTI/AP