Real Madrid have announced their plans for legal action against La Liga president Javier Tebas and his proposals for a €2.7bn (£2.3bn) deal with private equity firm CVC.
With a number of clubs in the Spanish elite tier in a dire financial situation as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, it was announced recently that CVC, based in Luxembourg, would gain a 10% stake in the division, with La Liga saying it would be a “long-term deal which aligns the interests of La Liga, the clubs, and CVC”.
Not everybody is happy with the arrangement, however, especially Madrid and Barcelona.
And on Tuesday morning Los Blancos released a statement condemning the plans - and stated that they are preparing to fight against CVC.
It read: "The Board of Directors of Real Madrid CF, meeting today at 11:00 a.m., has unanimously agreed to carry out both civil and criminal legal actions against the president of LaLiga, Mr. Javier Tebas Medrano, against Mr. Javier de Jaime Guijarro responsible of the CVC Fund and against the CVC Capital Partners SICAV-FIS Fund itself.
"Likewise, the Board of Directors has also decided to carry out legal actions of all kinds that are deemed appropriate to annul and nullify the possible agreements adopted by the LaLiga Assembly, to be held on August 12, 2021, regarding the agreement between LaLiga and the CVC Fund."
Madrid's action comes after Tebas and Barca president Joan Laporta were involved in a spat over CVC.
Following the announcement that Lionel Messi would be leaving the Catalan giants, Laporta said he would not be prepared to "mortgage the club for half a century".
Tebas shot back on social media by saying: "Hello Joan Laporta, you know that the CVC operation does not mortgage Barcelona's television rights for 50 years; what it does is make those rights worth more for all clubs, so you can go to your bank to ask for a loan to resolve the big debt. That was how you understood it a few hours ago. Resolved".
After being shown Tebas' tweet, Laporta replied: "Hola Javier, we don't interpret the situation like this. There were talks yesterday between our club and those at LaLiga leading this agreement and we didn't think the explanation was convincing enough. It's a risk we don't want to take on.
"I would also say to Javier, that the total of the operation with CVC is a lot less than what we feel the value of La Liga is at 10 percent. With all my affection, that's what I have to say."
It is a messy situation which looks like to rumble on throughout the coming months, and it will be intriguing to see how Madrid manage to legally challenge the proposals.
