The article on March 3 about LaLiga Impulso signed by JI Conde Ruiz and JF Jimeno (well-known madridista, by the way) brings together so many inaccuracies and misunderstandings that as president of LaLiga I cannot afford not to clarify.
I begin with the economic arguments, which, despite the training of the authors (or precisely because of it), are neither analyzed in depth nor are they the main axis of the article.
His statements contain gross errors and an intentional?
Ignorance of an operation that has been amply explained and published in the media.
They do not mention that LaLiga Impulso is an investment operation, channeled through joint accounts.
In other words, a risk operation for the investor who will only obtain that benefit, which they describe as a "bargain" if the LaLiga clubs obtain equivalent profits (even higher in absolute terms), thanks to the investments that these resources allow us to undertake, achieving anticipating 20 years what we would achieve with our own means and positioning our competition at the forefront of world football in terms of infrastructure and technology.
Thus, welcome be the benefit for CVC.
But as we said, in the article there is little and misunderstood economic argumentation and a lot of malicious argumentation of another kind.
The contempt for the presidents who signed the agreement is intolerable.
They are accused of "short-termism" and of "not having to be accountable to their social mass" or ensuring the "future stability of their clubs."
The authors are unaware that any of the signatory clubs is also a Sports Club, just as they are unaware (or not) that the Capital Companies Law establishes accountability mechanisms that sports corporations scrupulously comply with, as shown by their annual audits.
They accuse them of resorting to "the easy solution: the quick sale of assets at a price below the market price."
They lie intentionally or it is found that the authors are unaware of the operation they criticize.
I summarize it: 2,000 million euros are invested in exchange for 8.2%, that is, approximately 130 million euros per year, a multiple of 15 times EBITDA, which is a high market valuation, endorsed by independent experts such as Bibium Capital, Rothschild and Duff & Phelps after thoroughly analyzing LaLiga's business plan and comparable transactions in the world of sports and entertainment.
I doubt if they are unaware that LaLiga clubs are managed by professionals, in many cases with successful business careers, so it is a gratuitous insult that their criteria for making business decisions is questioned.
This contempt for the management capacity of the majority that makes up LaLiga Impulso can only be understood from the egomania of the person who heads the discourse of the minority not adhering to the plan.
Contempt that turns into homage with similar operations raised from that orbit.
The Impulse League is the result of many months of joint work advised by prestigious firms such as Uría Menéndez, KPMG or Latham & Watkins, to present the clubs with a detailed plan on which they could voluntarily decide to participate.
To do this, many clubs have resorted, in turn, to external experts who will assess the project and its individual convenience.
The acceptance by the clubs is the result of a lot of reflection and professional analysis and it is unacceptable that it is continually questioned.
In this line of disrespect for the vast majority of LaLiga clubs, the authors fantasize about "indirect incentives (premiums) to lose" and fixes that are reminiscent of practices that have been banned from our professional football against which controls have been established that work thanks to the joint work of all of us who participate in LaLiga.
This, in addition to being a very serious accusation, is untrue in the proposed calculation, since, according to the distribution mechanism established in Royal Decree Law 5/2015, 25% of the distribution to each LaLiga Santander club (15 % to those of LaLiga Smartbank) is determined based on their individual classification in LaLiga.
Any club, in any position in the table, would obtain a much higher economic benefit by moving up a position in LaLiga than by benefiting from a loss of position by another club.
Likewise, they invent a "doped" league that makes it difficult for "lower" clubs to rise.
They must not know that LaLiga Impulso allocates resources to those clubs that, due to sporting merits, would opt for promotion to the professional category.
These clubs that are promoted to LaLiga in the future will be able to access the funds with a minimum amount of four million euros.
In addition, during the first 10 years, the amount that would have corresponded to them if they had participated in LaLiga during the 2021-22 season will be recognized.
I can understand that, for those interested in leading elite football, where they receive the bulk of the profit and decide what crumbs they distribute to the rest, a plan that involves the development and growth of professional football as a whole is unaffordable.
However, LaLiga Impulso is a reality freely chosen by the clubs that make it up, which will lead to exponential growth for all of LaLiga, including those who do not want to see the rest grow.
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