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La Liga’s CVC deal could face legal action

Spain’s football league, La Liga, has said that its clubs have voted in favour of a controversial deal struck with a private-equity firm.

The Spanish football association, the RFEF, had earlier this week joined the country’s two biggest clubs, Barcelona and Real Madrid, in condemning the plan, amid warnings of potential legal action.

The deal with CVC last night (12 August) received the backing of 38 of the 42 La Liga clubs – but only after a late change which allowed clubs to opt out of the agreement.

'Numerous’ lawsuits predicted

Under the terms of the proposal, CVC will inject around €2.7 billion into La Liga, which runs Spain’s top two divisions, in return for a 10% share of its broadcasting rights over 50 years. These figures may drop, however, depending on how many clubs opt out.

Real Madrid had already threatened legal action, while an RFEF statement had described the proposal as “illegal”, predicting that “numerous lawsuits will undoubtedly arise” from the agreement.

The governing body had claimed that the proposed deal would amount to a tax on the clubs’ rights for the next 50 years, in exchange for “a relatively low sum of money”.

Earlier this week, Real Madrid had said that it would launch legal action against La Liga president Javier Tebas and CVC Capital Partners' chief Javier de Jaime Guijarro over the proposal.

Spanish football has been badly hit by the loss of revenue from spectators during the pandemic, while its big clubs have racked up huge debts.

Barcelona’s precarious financial situation has forced the club to allow its most famous player, Lionel Messi, to leave the club.