One topic has dominated the headlines in Spain today, after El Confidencial released a report and audio clips which confirmed that Gerard Pique had been involved in negotiations to take the Spanish Supercup to Saudi Arabia.
The voice notes, between Barcelona player Pique and President of the Spanish Football Federation Luis Rubiales, also involved discussions over the financial rewards for each club.
After attending an event today in Barcelona, Mundo Deportivo asked for Javier Tebas’ thoughts on the matter, as President of La Liga.
“I haven’t heard the audios yet. It’s a matter in which until those implicated give their opinion, I’m not going to say anything about.”
Tebas has a long-running feud with Rubiales, with the two often clashing on multiple issues, including scheduling. Tebas seemed reluctant to condemn the news however, stating he would have to read and listen to the report later. He did admit to knowing that Valencia were unhappy with the situation.
“Yes, it’s true that Valencia were very unhappy with the division of money and it could be coherent with the headlines I have read. Yes, I am not in agreement with what the clubs are earning that aren’t Barcelona and Real Madrid.”
“The division of money in the Supercup was never transparent and it wasn’t explained well.”
Perhaps the reason for his relatively sympathetic view was most clearly visible towards the end of the interview. La Liga had at one stage wanted to play a Girona-Barcelona fixture in Miami, but were never able to do so because the move was blocked by the RFEF.
“I said that it seemed right to me that the Supercup is held in Saudi Arabia. We wanted to take a La Liga match to the United States and they didn’t allow us. Perhaps the ideal was a different country. [Rubiales] doesn’t have any opposition from me about taking the tournament outside of Spain. Better put, I agree with it.”
