Real Madrid issues statement amid fight with La Liga over CVC deal

Real Madrid and Barcelona are the biggest rivals on the football pitch, however off the pitch both the clubs have joined hands in their protest against the proposed multi-billion-dollar investment and the revenue-sharing deal between LaLiga and private equity firm CVC. According to the Spanish media outlet El Independiente, neither Real Madrid is satisfied with the irruption of the investment fund in the shareholding structure of the Spanish football association and will take legal measures, nor is Barcelona. The news comes hours after Barcelona announced that Leo Messi will be ending his relationship with the club. 

LaLiga: Real Madrid, Barcelona against CVC

According to a report by Sky Sports, The Spanish football league on Wednesday announced that CVC would inject 2.7 billion euros (£2.3 billion) into La Liga in exchange for 10 per cent of its revenue and a 10 per cent stake in most of its business, with 90 per cent of the injection going to clubs. Real Madrid has released a statement in which it said that this agreement was reached without the involvement or knowledge of the club and today, for the first time, LaLiga has given limited access to the terms of the agreement.

The statement further read the clubs have signed over their audiovisual rights exclusively for their sale on a competitive basis for a period of three years. "This agreement, by way of a misleading structure, expropriates 10.95% of the clubs' audiovisual rights for the next 50 years, in breach of the law. The negotiation was carried out without competitive proceedings and the financial conditions agreed with CVC Capital Partners give them annual returns of over 20%." This opportunistic fund is the same which tried and failed to reach similar agreements with the Italian and German leagues.

Real Madrid also said that they cannot support a venture which hands the future of 42 Primera and Segunda División clubs over to a group of investors, not to mention the futures of those clubs who qualify over the next 50 years. It will convene the Assembly of Representative Members to debate the agreement and discuss the significant loss of equity, unprecedented in our 119-year history.

Barcelona in its statement has said that the operation announced has not been sufficiently discussed with the clubs (the owners of the TV rights); and that the amount is not congruent with the years of duration, and the deal affects part of all clubs’ audiovisual rights for the next 50 years. The club in its statement further stated that it feels it is inappropriate to sign a half-century agreement given the uncertainties that always surround the football world. The terms of the contract that LaLiga is describing condemn FC Barcelona’s future with regard to broadcasting rights.

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