"I find it laughable that PSG or Al-Khelaifi are in charge of FFP and have become the current role model for this regulation," Tebas stated in London on 26/2 at a Financial Times conference on business and sport. "I do not think he is the most suitable person to lead this. It is true that PSG is currently controlling its spending, but they have been 'splurging' for the past 10 years, and now they want to be the exemplary leader? No way."

Tebas at a La Liga event. Photo: AFP

PSG's "splurging," as Tebas described it, has been a contentious topic in European football for many years. Since Qatari owners, through the QSI group and president Al Khelaifi, took over in 2011, PSG has often faced suspicions of "pumping money" to exceed FFP's break-even threshold. In 2014, UEFA fined the club 24 million USD, restricting it to registering 21 players for the Champions League and limiting its transfer budget to about 65 million USD. By summer 2017, PSG was accused of circumventing regulations in the Neymar deal through a "World Cup 2022 ambassador" contract worth 355 million USD, allowing the player to buy out his 263 million USD contract. The French club also had significant sponsorship deals from Qatar, which were a form of financial circumvention, and was fined another 65 million USD in 2022 for FFP violations.

Tebas's latest statement also relates to the demise of the Super League project, announced through a joint statement between UEFA, Real Madrid, and the European Club Association (ECA) — an organization led by PSG's president. According to Tebas, the agreement reached among these three entities lacked transparency.

"They abandoned the Super League in 2021 after issues, yet now they appear as saviors," Tebas said. "Are we supposed to tell Real now, 'Thank you for doing that'? The only ones who fought in court and in the media, the only ones who defended UEFA, were us. No one else. Not the ECA, not PSG, nor anyone else."

"An agreement was signed that we only learned about that same morning," the 63-year-old executive added. "They just blessed each other, like Florentino Perez saying, 'Al-Khelaifi, you are amazing,' and vice versa... It is unacceptable that in 2026, an agreement impacting this entire industry lacks the necessary transparency. They talk about respecting sporting values, while that is the minimum. Then they preach about FFP, and as I said, PSG or Al-Khelaifi have no standing."

PSG president Nasser Al Khelaifi. Photo: AFP

When asked if he believed the Real president would try to create a new league in the future, Tebas quipped, "I do not know who will do it next, Florentino or Al-Khelaifi? I am also wondering."

Additionally, the La Liga president believes that other football organizations cannot compete with the economic power of the Premier League. This league adopted FFP in 2013, stipulating that a club's losses must not exceed 140 million USD over three years. However, this model has become outdated and will be replaced next season by a legal framework similar to UEFA's. The new regulation will only allow clubs to spend a maximum of 85% of their revenue on transfers, salaries, and agent fees.

"The new regulations will only bring more inflation and more problems. A fair rule that does not account for costs is useless," Tebas added at the conference.

The leader, born in 1962, believes the Premier League is not applying market values correctly. "If we do not establish market values, we will repeat the scenario of Italian football in the 1990s and Spanish football in the 2000s, where clubs agreed on prices among themselves and created artificial expectations. Transaction activities need to be economically rational," he emphasized.

During his presentation, Tebas also criticized some tactics employed by Aston Villa and Everton, stating that despite the inherent economic advantages enjoyed from the league, these clubs found ways to circumvent FFP. According to the Spanish league executive, these clubs sold their women's teams to affiliated companies under the same ownership to generate artificial revenue, thereby reducing financial losses on paper.

"We are deceiving ourselves. The search for fair rules is welcome, but English football has double the revenue, excluding transfers, of the leagues immediately behind them, La Liga and Bundesliga. With a normal FFP, they will always be able to invest twice as much. We know we cannot compete economically with the Premier League. We can sign better players, have better coaches, but we cannot compete financially. The Premier League itself, with a normal FFP, is enough to lead with a separate margin," Tebas concluded.

Hoang Thong (according to Cadena SER)