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Lionel Messi's exit did not financially impact La Liga, says league President

In September, Lionel Messi signed a free agent contract with PSG, while Ronaldo joined Juventus from Real Madrid in 2018.

By Nilavro Ghosh | Feb 18, 2022 | 2 Min Read

According to La Liga president Javier Tebas, Lionel Messi’s transfer from Barcelona to Paris Saint-Germain has had “zero” financial impact on Spain’s top flight. In the last four years, La Liga has lost Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo. In September, Lionel Messi signed a free agent contract with PSG, while Cristiano Ronaldo joined Juventus in a 100 million euro transfer from Real Madrid in 2018.

Asked if La Liga had suffered a negative financial impact by Messi’s departure, Tebas said, “No. Zero. A one-off departure by a star or two, just as it happened with Cristiano [Ronaldo] doesn’t affect [us]. If you look at it, Serie A did not grow with Cristiano.”

Messi’s departure, Tebas said at the time, was particularly “painful” for LaLiga. He did say, however, that LaLiga is in a good position now.

“We signed [in May 2021] an eight-year [rights] agreement with ESPN,” Tebas said. “Do you think they know who will play in LaLiga in eight years’ time? Neither they nor anyone knows that. But they know it’s a financially sound league and that there will always be good players.”

Due to the strict fair-play regulations, Barcelona’s high salaries made it difficult to assemble a squad. Barcelona’s salary cap for 2021-22 has been reduced to 97 million euros, making it more than seven times smaller than Real Madrid’s.

On the European Super League

Meanwhile, despite plans collapsing last year after Premier League clubs withdrew in response to a hostile reaction from supporters and governments over the creation of a new European league that would break away from UEFA’s established Champions League competition, Tebas said the threat of a European Super League competition remains. Real Madrid, Barcelona, and Juventus have all pushed for it in the past.

Asked if the Super League was dead, Tebas said: “No. [Real Madrid president] Florentino [Perez] never loses, I’ve known him for many years. The Super League is not a tournament, it’s a concept from many years ago that the big clubs in Europe must decide and rule in world football.”