Javier Tebas takes part in the ‘World Football Summit’ in Seville. (EFE/ José Manuel Vidal)
La Liga president Javier Tebas remains in the crosshairs of many fans for recent and past decisions linked to him. Many fans are demanding accountability from the leader of the Spanish competition for the prices charged to watch football. According to the comparisons, Spain heads the list of countries with the highest costs to access the complete sports package offered exclusively by Movistar and Orange.
Now, the complaint is linked to the growth of Tebas’ own salary, which has skyrocketed in recent years and seems to be increasing. An amount that started below one million euros and is now well above that amount. However, this disbursement he receives has to be approved by the La Liga clubs, so it does not depend solely on him.
Since the president arrived at the LFP, his fees have experienced increases that now place him at levels that exceed 5 million euros per year. This is incoherent with the statements that Tebas made when he arrived at La Liga in 2013. At that time, the current president criticized his predecessors for the figures they asked for doing the same activity that he does today, as Sport claims.
At that time, it was the only time that Javier Tebas received a salary reduction in his benefits, and it was voluntary, so at that time he did comply with his statements regarding the high amounts that were being paid to his predecessors.
Tebas attacks Florentino in the press, the only known opponent of his salary. (Javier Lizón/EFE)
However, from 2016 onwards, that thought vanished with several salary increases until the most recent one last season. Therefore, in the aforementioned year, his salary was already raised to more than 600,000 euros, which would be exceeded again in 2020, with an outlay that was 4.5 times higher than the previous established, that is, he went on to receive 3,440,000 euros per year. Far from being satisfied, last season he proposed a larger increase, which was approved to take 5.47 million euros on the payroll for each year.
This fact is surprising for many when in every stadium the president’s resignation is repeatedly requested with cries of “Tebas, go now”, for reasons linked to football prices and some other actions. In this way, the clubs make the decision without listening to the fans, who have every right to do so.
The only club known to have opposed the increase is Real Madrid, which made this public after the announcement and reports from La Liga. Another team also joined the Whites, but invoked the right to vote in privacy and did not publicly take a position.
Florentino and Real Madrid were opposed. (REUTERS/Ana Beltran)
Thus, Tebas’ career is marked by an increase in his financial performance at a time when the league championship has suffered losses of important players and has been overtaken by the English league, although little by little thanks to Madrid, Barça and Atleti it is beginning to regain cachet due to the arrival of world-class stars.
