Man City mull legal action against La Liga president Tebas
Tebas says clubs make ‘mockery of system’
LONDON: Manchester City have threatened La Liga president Javier Tebas with legal action after he said their partnership with Spanish club Girona was an attempt to “cook the books”.
Tebas made his remarks during an appearance at the Soccerex football conference in Manchester on Wednesday.
He said City and French giants Paris SaintGermain were “destroying football” with stateenabled spending.
But a City spokeswoman, in a statement released late on Wednesday, said: “Mr Tebas’ statements are ill-informed and in parts pure fiction.
“As you would expect, Manchester City Football Club and the City Football Group are seeking appropriate legal counsel and will act accordingly on that advice.”
PSG prised Neymar from Barcelona in a world-record €222 million (US$265 million) deal and have also signed Kylian Mbappe from Monaco in a move that could be worth €180 million.
City outspent any other European club in the transfer window by lavishing around £221 million (€242 million, $288 million) on new players.
Tebas said the assistance City and PSG received from their respective Emirati and Qatari backers amounted to “financial doping”.
He said the two clubs were “laughing” at European governing body Uefa’s Financial Fair Play rules, which oblige clubs to minimise their losses.
“PSG are laughing at the system,” Tebas said through a translator.
“A Spanish journalist defined it, and I hope I am not being rude, as like they were peeing in the bed or the swimming pool.
“Well Neymar has gone on to the diving board and peed into the pool — it can’t be tolerated.
“But this is not solely because of Neymar. We at La Liga have fought hard for collective TV rights. We are being destroyed and this is going to damage the industry.”
Uefa has opened an investigation into PSG’s transfer dealings, but City are not under investigation.
In particular, Tebas raised questions about the legitimacy of City’s decision to loan five players to Girona for the coming season, suggesting the players had been undervalued.
Asked if City and Girona were “trying to cook the books”, Tebas replied: “They were trying to, but they didn’t manage to do it.”
City purchased a 44.3 percent stake in Girona last month, matching the stake already held by City manager Pep Guardiola’s brother Pere.
Girona were promoted to the Spanish top flight last season.
Tebas is reported to have held a meeting to discuss the matter with City chief executive Ferran Soriano on Wednesday.
France’s Professional Football League has strongly criticised Tebas.
“These unworthy remarks are unbecoming of an institution as respectable and successful as the Spanish Liga,” the LFP said.
Tebas, who has revolutionised La Liga since taking over in 2013, engineering a collective TV football rights deal among other measures, said PSG were simply not paying market prices.
“All PSG have to do is turn on the gas tap,” he said, referring to Qatar’s massive gas reserves. “This is what PSG have been doing for the past four years.”
Tebas said it was not a level playing field for clubs.
“Teams that use use financial doping play for an entire year and can win their league or a European trophy, although some have lost as well.
“So it is not fair to the victims which are the teams playing by the rules. We have to get a system that is fair to the victims.
“The rules are there on the books.”