La Liga president Javier Tebas recently spoke out on hot topics such as "La Liga overseas matches" and "the battle with Florentino Pérez". He not only voiced strong support for the plan to host the Villarreal vs. Barcelona match in Miami but also bluntly stated that Real Madrid would never participate in overseas games under its current leadership—"Florentino simply dislikes me and doesn’t approve of anything La Liga does."
When talking about the original intention of the Miami overseas match, Tebas denied being "profit-driven": "Stop measuring everything by money! When the NFL comes to Madrid and the NBA goes to Europe, they aren’t after ticket revenue—they’re building brands and nurturing fans. La Liga has a large fan base in the U.S., especially Catalan fans. The event’s revenue is handled by promoter Relevent; La Liga doesn’t invest money or share profits. We only host one overseas match a year, with the core goal of competing with U.S. sports leagues. It’s about inheriting football tradition like exporting culture and architecture, not going against it." He also emphasized the match’s compliance: "Only UEFA and the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) have the right to veto it; the Spanish Sports Council has no jurisdiction. Now we just need to complete the communication process with the U.S. Soccer Federation and CONCACAF, and I’m not worried at all."
In response to doubts about "undermining competitive fairness", Tebas refuted with examples: "Adjusting the schedule isn’t against the rules—each team still has 18 home and 18 away games. No one complained when Real Madrid fans filled the stands in the Supercopa de España final, or when a Copa del Rey match was moved; Villarreal lost all of their last six home games against Barcelona, which shows the home advantage has limited impact." Regarding potential obstruction from the players’ union and the Sports Council, he said: "We reached an agreement with the union when we held the first overseas match in 2018, and we’ve now sent documents explaining that we’ll continue the plan; some of the Sports Council’s assessments are too superficial. It’s normal for players to consider rest time, but legally, they can’t stop this."
When talking about his battle with Florentino Pérez, Tebas didn’t hold back: "I haven’t actively challenged him; I’m just doing my job. He’s tough and never gives up, but the European Super League was a ‘doomed project’ from the start. Now there are rumors that they’re negotiating with UEFA, coinciding with Barcelona’s meeting with the ECA—it’s just a public relations move to save face after a defeat. As for Real Madrid playing overseas games? It’s impossible under the current leadership—they simply dislike me and don’t approve of any of La Liga’s initiatives."
In addition, Tebas criticized FIFA president Gianni Infantino for being "whimsical": "He has new ideas every morning and in every speech. I hope this proposal to hold the World Cup in winter fades away like his idea to expand the Club World Cup. The EU Court of Justice has clearly ruled that UEFA and FIFA must consult all leagues. Leagues around the world follow an August-to-May schedule; a winter World Cup would ruin the broadcast market and severely damage national leagues. I really don’t know if Infantino cares about this." He also commented on Barcelona’s decision to stay in the ECA: "It’s much better than pursuing the European Super League, which would have devastated domestic football. Although I don’t advocate for the ECA, it’s more beneficial for Barcelona to stay."
