La Liga to begin on time despite TV dispute
Reuters - Tuesday 14 August 2012, 16:00
The 2012/13 La Liga season will
begin on schedule this weekend following an emergency meeting
between disgruntled clubs and the professional football league
(LFP) to discuss a TV rights dispute.
Officials from a group of 13 clubs said on Tuesday the
issues had not been resolved at the LFP assembly in Madrid. But
progress was made and the presence of secretary of state for
sport Miguel Cardenal had helped calm the situation.
"We discussed issues to do with the league, with governance
and with television broadcasts," LFP president Jose Luis
Astiazaran told reporters. "There will be games this weekend
that will start at the scheduled time."
The 13 first division sides are angry that broadcasters
Canal+ and Mediapro have failed to settle a dispute over TV
rights ownership.
The clubs say this has created "a situation of serious legal
insecurity" and had threatened to postpone the season's start.
"There will have to be a solution but it won't be ready
tomorrow," Miguel Guillen, president of Real Betis, told the
club's radio station after the LFP meeting.
"It was an extremely important step forward that the
secretary of state is perfectly aware of the issues to be
addressed."
The 13 - Athletic Bilbao, Atletico Madrid, Betis, Celta
Vigo, Espanyol, Getafe, Granada, Real Mallorca, Osasuna, Rayo
Vallecano, Real Sociedad, Sevilla and Real Zaragoza - have urged
the broadcasters to settle outstanding debts to the clubs and to
drop any legal action against them.
IDEAL FORMULA
They also want the LFP to institute a "transparent and
regulated" system for fixing kick-off times. They have accused
officials of offering some clubs favourable kick-off times that
disadvantage others.
"We are 13 united teams and we have to carry on until we
achieve our goals and try to win the battle for the good of our
own interests and those of La Liga," Atletico president Enrique
Cerezo told reporters.
Many La Liga clubs are also unhappy that Real Madrid and
Barcelona dominate revenue from audiovisual rights due to the
lack of a system of collective bargaining and income-sharing
like those in rival European leagues.
Betis's Guillen said the German model was one La Liga would
do well to learn from.
"We fully agree that the way football is organised in
Germany would be an ideal formula to apply in Spain, both in the
equitable distribution of [cash from] audiovisual rights and
treating the fans with maximum respect," he said.
The aim was to "try to make the event last much more than
the 90 minutes of the match and provide a range of services to
fans that we cannot today because we don't have the basic
requirements to get it going."